Heaven Is a Traffic Jam On the 405
Movie · Documentary · Short Films

A 2018 Oscar(®) winner for Best Documentary Short, this film is a portrait of Mindy Alper, a brilliant 56-year-old artist represented by one of Los Angeles’ top galleries. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of depression and mental disorder; she has suffered through electro shock therapy, multiple commitments to mental institutions and a 10-year period without speech. Her only consistent means of communicating has been to channel her hyper self-awareness into drawings and sculpture of powerful psychological clarity that eloquently express her emotional state. Through an examination of her work, interviews, reenactments, and the building of an eight and a half foot papier-mâché bust of her beloved psychiatrist, we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness and isolation to one that includes love, trust, and support. The title of the film begs the question as to why the 405 freeway, the north/south highway that connects Los Angeles to its northern suburbs and statistically the busiest and most universally loathed highway in the world, would be anyone's idea of heaven. It is a quote from Ms. Alper, and expresses the extent to which she sees life differently from most.

2018 · 38m
  • 100%
Starring Mindy Alper, Barbara Alper, Tom Wudl
Director Frank Stiefel

Trailers

  • Heaven Is a Traffic Jam On the 405
    Heaven Is a Traffic Jam On the 405
    Documentary

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Cast & Crew

  • M‌A
    Mindy Alper
    Self
  • B‌A
    Barbara Alper
    Self
  • T‌W
    Tom Wudl
    Self
  • Frank Stiefel
    Director
  • Frank Stiefel
    Producer

About

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam On the 405

Documentary

A 2018 Oscar(®) winner for Best Documentary Short, this film is a portrait of Mindy Alper, a brilliant 56-year-old artist represented by one of Los Angeles’ top galleries. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of depression and mental disorder; she has suffered through electro shock therapy, multiple commitments to mental institutions and a 10-year period without speech. Her only consistent means of communicating has been to channel her hyper self-awareness into drawings and sculpture of powerful psychological clarity that eloquently express her emotional state. Through an examination of her work, interviews, reenactments, and the building of an eight and a half foot papier-mâché bust of her beloved psychiatrist, we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness and isolation to one that includes love, trust, and support. The title of the film begs the question as to why the 405 freeway, the north/south highway that connects Los Angeles to its northern suburbs and statistically the busiest and most universally loathed highway in the world, would be anyone's idea of heaven. It is a quote from Ms. Alper, and expresses the extent to which she sees life differently from most.

100%

TOMATOMETER
Average 9.7
Reviews 7
Fresh 7

Information

Studio
The Film Collaborative
Released
2018
Run Time
38 min
Rated
Unrated
Region of Origin
United States
© 2017 Stiefeland Company, Inc.

Languages

Original Audio
English
Audio

English (AAC)

Subtitles

English (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
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  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
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  • Malaysia (English)
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  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
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