Simple Machine

Synopsis

Winner of the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Woods Hole Film Festival and an Audience Award at IFFBoston, Simple Machine is part portrait of an architect who became an amputee in midlife, and part meditation on the beauty and challenges of classical mechanics in the ingenious tools of our everyday lives. The film re-frames assistive technologies in the adapted wood shop of one man, but it also sets his story against the history of post-war prosthetics, industrial manufacturing, and the irreducible complexity of life with machines.

Playing at festivals throughout 2025.

Credits

Director: Sara Hendren
Producers: Sara Hendren, Brian Funck