DescriptionA cinema verite masterpiece, this latest documentary from award-winning filmmaker Rosie Dransfeld is set in a pawnshop. Its owner, David Woolfson, a bone-hard Jewish merchant from South Africa, is a banker of last resort for the down-and-out residents of Edmonton�s grim and unforgiving inner city. He�s been running the store for nearly 16 years. Not that he needs to. It�s just that, if he was stuck at home, he would go mad. Then, one day, Chris Hoard, an ex-convict, shows up and offers his help. For free. Shot in cinema-verite style, director Rosie Dransfeld brilliantly captures the unlikely friendship between the grouchy pawnbroker and his sweet-but-psychopathic assistant. Chris is learning a lot from the old cynic. But he has his own luggage to carry, and it is wearing him down. At times hypnotic, the film portrays a powerful depiction of reality. Dransfeld�s style draws us deep into a world of bargaining, insults, poverty and desperation. "...this is a fabulous film, among the best this year. It's cinema verite in the classic sense ...an extraordinary film." Jesse Wente CBC national radio and "...a cinema verite masterpiece." Hot Docs International Film Festival
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