"Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405" is not about Los Angeles traffic. It's 40-minute documentary short about a mentally ill artist, her past and how her work with cartoons and sculpture helped her break out of her shell.
I can't fault the misdirection in the title because the description above probably would not have lured me into the theater. Were that the case, I would have missed out on a surprisingly compelling portrait of a woman who has persevered on the edge of sanity.
"Mindy Alper is a tortured and brilliant 56-year-old artist who is represented by one of Los Angeles' top galleries. Acute anxiety, mental disorder and devastating depression have caused her to be committed to mental institutions, undergo electroshock therapy and survive a 10-year period without the ability to speak," writes Director Frank Stiefel in his summary. "Her hyper self- awareness has allowed her to produce a lifelong body of work that expresses her emotional state with powerful psychological precision."
During a Q&A following a screening at the Sedona International Film Festival, Stiefel explained that he met Alper when she was his wife's art school classmate. I commend him for recognizing an opportunity and delivering a fascinating story. Check out this film if you have the opportunity.
