Documentary filmmaker Meredith Moore began filming her grandmother’s extensive collection of salt and pepper shakers a few years ago. The shakers are fun, but really it’s her gran, Margie Soudek, who steals the show. Soudek began collecting the things after graduating from high school in the mid forties, and spent the next 70 years acquiring a staggering number of the things. Her collection currently stands at about 2,000 sets of shakers.

Moore’s style is cute and quirky, and in addition to old family photos and videos and current interview footage, she incorporated sometimes perplexing visual effects (explosions, for one) into the film, turning what could have been a cute little family documentary into something that’s occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

The documentary has been featured at Sundance and SXS@ 2023, and is now watchable on The New Yorker website (for free). It’s a real joy, and at just over 12 minutes, a very solid use of your time.

You can follow Meredith Moore on her website and on Instagram