‘A lot of people think they know how to sharpen pencils, but… they don’t really.’ Such is the view of David Rees, a self-styled ‘artisanal pencil-sharpener’ who, at the time of this short film’s release in 2013, had sharpened some 1,500 No 2 pencils for paying customers. With deadpan humour and shrewd insight, Rees talks the audience through a step-by-step guide to achieving the perfect pencil point, while giving a brief history of the modern pencil and pencil-sharpening tools. With the charismatic Rees as his subject, Kenneth Price’s film provides a light reflection on the inherent value – and indeed joys – of care and precision, while also perhaps poking some fun at our artisan-obsessed times.
Here’s to handiwork! A celebration of craft as a universal language
Directed by Donald Winkler
