The Last Cobbler

The shoe making and shoe repair industry have been on the decline for many years now. Some attribute it to the rise of sneakers. Others attribute it to the throwaway material culture that has developed in America in recent decades. Nevertheless, the number of independently owned cobbler shops have dwindled in recent years.

Aurora Shoe Repair is the last independent shoe repair shop in Ithaca, New York, an upstate town that once boasted over twenty shoemaker shops. Eddie Volpicelli has owned and operated Aurora Shoe Repair for 48 years. As Eddie contemplates retirement without a stable succession plan, he faces the all too familiar dilemma of the modern day cobbler: continue to work into old age or retire and close the shop, leaving the community without this needed service.

Looking forward to the first extended vacation of his career, this film follows Eddie as he prepares himself and the community at-large for his impending retirement. Throughout, Eddie looks back upon his long career, the art of repair, and the ever-changing shoe repair landscape of Central New York. In looking at the past of shoe repair in Ithaca, New York, Eddie also ponders the future. Shot with a Sony FX6 and partially on 35 mm film, thanks to funding provided by the James Pendleton Student Grant from Ithaca College.

The Last Cobbler showed at the 2023 Workers Unite Film Festival, 2023 New York Lift-Off Film Festival, and the 2024 Buffalo International Film Festival. It also took home an Honorable Mention in the Short Documentary category at the 2023 Workers Unite Film Festival. A widespread release is currently in the works!