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Mr. Mergler's Gift

2004 30 min
Coming soon

In this short film from Oscar® winner Beverly Shaffer, 9-year-old prodigy Xin Ben takes lessons from Daniel Mergler, a piano teacher at the end of his career. In this remarkable story about a student and her mentor, Xin Ben and Mergler meet 26 times over the course of one year. During this time, Xin Ben illuminates Mergler's final months as an instructor with her youthful talent, and he, in return, lovingly guides her towards a life in music.

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Mr. Mergler's Gift

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In this short film from Oscar® winner Beverly Shaffer, 9-year-old prodigy Xin Ben takes lessons from Daniel Mergler, a piano teacher at the end of his career. In this remarkable story about a student and her mentor, Xin Ben and Mergler meet 26 times over the course of one year. During this time, Xin Ben illuminates Mergler's final months as an instructor with her youthful talent, and he, in return, lovingly guides her towards a life in music.

Children and Youth
Education
Health and Medicine
Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism
Music
All subjects
  • director
    Beverly Shaffer
  • producer
    Germaine Ying Gee Wong
  • participant
    Daniel Mergler
    Xin Ben Yu
    Yonghong Yu
    Hongyu Lei
    Alexandre Solopov
    Harold Hoffman
  • editing
    Benjamin Duffield
  • cinematography
    Andrei Khabad
    Thomas Vamos
  • additional cinematography
    Alberto Feio
    Stefan Nitoslawski
  • sound recording
    Richard Lavoie
    Jean-Denis Daoust
    Pierre Fleurant
    Marcel Fraser
    Craig Lapp
  • camera assistant
    Martine Leclerc
  • electrician
    Roger Martin
    Michel Comeau
  • production assistant
    Nick Goso
    Galit Mastai
    Jason Nardella
  • sound editing
    Don Ayer
  • music recording
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • re-recording
    Serge Boivin
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • titles
    Louise Overy
    Francine Paquin
  • online editor
    Sylvain Desbiens
    Denis Gathelier
  • post-production coordinator
    Claude Cardinal
  • digital editing technician
    Chaz Oliver
  • production administration assistant
    Sia Koukoulas
  • program administrator
    Marie Tonto-Donati
    Nickie Merulla
  • marketing manager
    Moira Keigher
  • executive producer
    Sally Bochner

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Education

Ages 11 to 17

Study Guide - Guide 1

Arts Education - Music
Family Studies/Home Economics - Aging/Death and Dying
Family Studies/Home Economics - Relationships

Have students write a journal entry on their role model or someone they have personally affected. Grades 8 and up should read or watch Tuesdays With Morrie. Have students compare and contrast Tuesdays With Morrie and Mr. Mergler's Gift. Asks students what it means to be 'gifted'?

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