Heaven Is A Traffic Jam On The 405*

This is a portrait of a brilliant 56 year old artist who is represented by one of Los Angeles’ top galleries. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of extreme depression and anxiety.

Mindy Alper 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.

Through an examination of her work, interviews, reenactments, the building of an eight and a half foot papier-mache bust of her beloved psychiatrist, we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness and isolation to a life that includes love, trust and laughter.

*The 405 Freeway is the north/south highway that connects Los Angeles to its northern suburbs. It is statistically the busiest highway in the world and is loathed by every commuter. The title of the film is a quote from Mindy and expresses the views of someone who sees life differently than the rest of us.