DOCTOR OF ALL SHOES (2016)
Documentary | 15 min | USA
Director: Mani Mehrvarz
Writer: Mani Mehrvarz
Star: Joseph P. Bavisotto
Cinematography: Mahan Mehrvarz
Art Producer: Jared Parylo
Sound: Maryam Muliaee
Editor: Mani Mehrvarz
Doctor of All Shoes is the story of Joseph Bavisotto who has been a passionate shoe repairman all of his life in the city of Buffalo, New York.
Picking up where his father left off, Joseph has been working on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo for decades and has watched the business grow and flourish, and the surrounding neighborhood change around him. Hard work and perseverance have been the mainstays of his business known as Jimmie’s Shoe Repair Shop. Although this job involves putting in long hours and dealing with a non-stop stream of work, there is a sense of satisfaction and ownership that comes with the work, something that he says makes all the work meaningful and worthwhile.
While some may say that shoe repair shops are a thing of the past and that the shoe repairman is a dying profession, Joseph has seen continued success in his business with passion and by offering good quality service. Consistency and perseverance have paid off in his business and his life, allowing Jimmie’s Shoe Repair to remain a constant in the beautiful Hertel neighborhood in Buffalo despite the continual neighborhood change.