For all of Alper’s success, she isn’t yet a “major” figure in the art world, and the tangential exploration of mental illness is not itself a huge hook. Mobile site. Usually all three elements need to be good, with at least one element being great. Stiefel is veteran photographer and filmmaker, his 2009 film Ingelore played HBO, and he brings great skill to the proceedings. Aucune note Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 2016 Cliquer pour voir plus Résumé Métadonnées Réalisateur Frank Stiefel Durée — Date de sortie 14 octobre 2016 Détails Média — Statut — Note — Images Aucune image importée pour ce film. A moving portrait of the artist Mindy Alper, the film’s director, Frank Stiefel, finds her on the cusp of an important gallery showing of her art, and gives Alper room to reflect on her life’s journey through profound mental illness. Recently nominated for an Academy Award for best short subject documentary, Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 provides an intimate portrait of a singular individual: artist Mindy Alper. Jan Stiefel’s greatest skill in the film is setting these moments up at perfect intervals and allowing space for the impact to hit home. That they make our minor troubles seem small in comparison is a relatively small bonus compared to the way they expand our understanding of humanity. The best short films delivered to your inbox. Made by fans in Auckland, New Zealand. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of extreme depression and anxiety. Oscar is predictable, and the film is familiar formula from past nominees—take an outsider (in this case outsider artist) and document their perseverance through hardship. DIRECTOR + WRITER | Frank Stiefel, the producer, director, writer and cinematographer of HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 was born and raised in New York City. In 2009 he directed INGELORE, a 40 minute documentary portrait of his mother. 25, Film data from TMDb. Yet in substance they do follow the same kind of forms you see in shorter fare. Comparatif Forfait mobile meilleurs offres, Comparatif meilleures offres Box Internet ADSL/Fibre. Heaven is a traffic jam on the 405 is just one of those films that make you forget all about yourself and live, breathe and feel as the protagonist does. Her fears and failures are yours as are her victories and joys. United States / 2017 / 40 minutes / NR. Frank Stiefel’s Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 is a quintessential artist profile—there are thousands of similar films on Vimeo, roughly following the same kind of emotional and narrative arc, and utilizing similar techniques. Every time she speaks about the challenges she has faced and the demons she has slayed, you feel like reaching into the screen and giving her a nice, long hug. The effect of this produces a sense of child-like naiveté that demands affection and protection from the audience. Matthew is using Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists with friends. (Espaces publicitaires, opérations spéciales, et autres...), Copyright © 2005 - 2020 Just Digital Group Media - JDG Media, Tous droits réservés, Appuyer sur entrée pour lancer la recherche, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Soldes, Prime Days, French Days, [Test] Samsung Galaxy S20, le petit frère qui a tout d’un grand, [Test] Surface Pro 7 de Microsoft : le 2-en-1 qui aurait pu être parfait. for months at a time, she lost her ability to speak. These films, when done with the skill and thoughtfulness of this one, are immensely inspiring, and perform a valuable social function in building understanding and empathy. 40 minutes is too short, too, to fully answer all of the questions that I have about Alper's life. Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405. As distasteful as it is to admit, many folks are reflexive Darwinists at heart. From years of taking anti-psychotic medications and even undergoing electro-shock treatment, her speech is stunted and awkward. Join here. At 40 minutes, Frank Stiefel's documentary is streamlined and smooth, providing just enough about Alper's work, life, and backstory to allow viewers to make connections between her art and her life. Sometimes it is illness or disability, sometimes it is race or poverty, that provide the hurdles, but ultimately these real-life stories of humans finding hope where we expect there should be none, prove to be immense crowd-pleasers. We have an tendency to discount, or devalue such lives, and so to provide an image of humans that not only survive, but thrive is an important corrective to our ingrained biases. © Letterboxd Limited. Yet, despite odd phrasings, she is very articulate in communicating her thoughts. Her speech has a sort of “lolcat” affect on viewers. Recently nominated for an Academy Award for best short subject documentary, Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 provides an intimate portrait of a singular individual: artist Mindy Alper. I’m totally cool with that. Ou juste faire une remarque ? An interesting topic for a documentary, Alper appears to be a relative unknown (further research into her life reveals that she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page), yet she makes beautifully human artwork (mostly sketches and papier-mâché sculpture) that reveal the depths of her unique and troubled existence. From there things spiral downward into a stint in a mental hospital in her late 20’s, followed by frequent episodes where, for months at a time, she lost her ability to speak. Meilleurs films et séries fantastiques sur Netflix, [Test] Animal Crossing New Horizons : T’as le Nook coco. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. But despite the competency of the work, particularly in the structuring of its narrative, Stiefel isn’t breaking new ground stylistically, or through his storytelling. And you know what? What thus makes the film exceptional is Alper herself. Yet each story is unique, and the confluence of subject and filmmaker still proves the possibility of making any individual film exceptional. 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. I frequently speak of my three criteria for appraising profile docs: first is the inherent “hook” of the topic (including the visual quality of the art in artist profiles), followed by the quality of the performance given on-camera by the primary subject, and lastly the filmmaking panache of the director. Watched For Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 it is Alper’s performance that is the revelation. 2018 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short, Heaven is an extraordinary and innovative documentary, a portrait of artist Mindy Alper, whose renowned and astonishing body of work reveals a lifetime of struggle with debilitating mental illness.