ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York
A showcase of award-winning films by and about people with disabilities. For more information, visit: reelabilities.org/newyork
FRIDAY / MARCH 9 / 1-4 PM
Bellevue Hospital Center, Saul Farber Auditorium, 462 First Avenue at 27th Street
HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 (40 min., 2016, Dir: Frank Stiefel)
A documentary 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 extreme depression and anxiety, including her traumatic experiences with 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 BARBER OF AUGUSTA (20 min., 2016, Dir: Michèle Hozer)
A documentary featuring Matthew Genser, a/k/a ‘The Barber of Augusta’. Inspired by the comic-book figure in the cult classic ‘Kick Ass’, Matthew sets out each morning to become a real life superhero. Dressed in a multi-colored neon suit and mask and armed with a salon stool and attitude, Matt prowls his town in search of street people with bad hair, offering up free haircuts to any takers. Like Superman, Batman and Spiderman, he’s got a dark side, struggling with issues of inadequacy, rejection, and loneliness. But when he dons his costume, he’s king of the road.
Screenings are free and open to the public. No reservation needed but seating is first come, first serve.
Co-Sponsor: NYU Center for Disability Studies
Photo credit: above, self-portrait by Mindy Alper, featured in Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 and