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D2 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 THE HARTFORD COURANT VING FILMS See The Oscars' Shortlist Of Documentary Shorts Married in their 90s, they are shown fighting to remain together, despite efforts by one of Edith's daughters to separate them. "Heaven Is a Traffic Jam" is a profile of Mindy Alper, an outsider artist in Southern California who has struggled with depression, anxiety and other challenges. The title comes from Alper herself, who professes to love nothing better than sitting in her car in bumper-to-bumper road congestion- one of the few situations, besides artmaking, in which she feels completely at peace. Rounding out this trio of films is "Traffic Stop." In 2015, Breaion King, a 26-year-old black schoolteacher, was pulled over for a minor moving violation in Austin, Texas. The shocking dash-cam footage of the stop, in which she was roughly treated and ultimately arrested, takes up much of the film.

But "Traffic Stop" is also a close-up portrait of King, who brings a much needed humanity to the disturbing viral videos we've gotten used to seeing online. (The cable network HBO, which produced "Traffic Stop," will begin showing the film Monday, with sneak peeks available, via HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO on Demand, on Friday.) Which film will win? I'm betting on "Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405." Featuring interviews with Alper's mother, doctor, art dealer and others, it's an utterly fascinating and original study in survival and, as Alper's art teacher puts it, the "redemptive capacity" of the creative impulse. Showing Friday at Criterion Cinemas in New Haven and Saturday at Real Art Ways in Hartford. Check websites for times. By MICHAEL O'SULLIVAN Washington Post This year's Oscar-nominated documentary shorts fall, for the most part, into two tidy categories: the issue-oriented and the personal.

Tickets for each program, which are tailored to the two distinct tastes, are sold separately. In the issue-oriented program, you'll find a twofer of films that, coincidentally, grapple with the theme of rehabilitation: "Heroin(e)" is a grim yet inspirational look at efforts to confront the epidemic of drug addiction in Huntington, West Virginia, by several women, including the town's first female fire chief, Jan Rader. (The film is also available via Netflix streaming.) It's being paired with "Knife Skills," which profiles a Cleveland-based program that teaches culinary skills to former prisoners at a French restaurant doubling as a training facility. The restaurant's name Edwins stands for "education wins." Both movies offer a sense of hope without sugarcoating the very real challenges faced by their subjects. The second documentary shorts program offers a very different flavor of moviemaking.

Two of the films are distinctly intimate "Edith and Eddie" and "Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405" while a third straddles the line between the personal and the political. "Edith and Eddie" is both a heart-warmer and a heartbreaker, focusing on the elderly Washington, D.C.-area couple of the title: 96-year-old Edith Hill and 95-year-old Eddie Harrison, of Alexandria, Virginia. FRANK STIEFEL "HEAVEN IS A Traffic Jam on the 405" is a documentary portrait of artist Mindy Alper, on ladder. James Beard executive chef of actor Richard Gere's The Bedford Post Inn, a Relais Chateaux property that featured two destination restaurants, The Barn and The Farmhouse. During his time there, the restaurants received mention on Esquire Magazine's "Best New Restaurant" list in 2009 and an "Excellent" review in the New York Times.

He launched his first solo venture in March 2012 with elm in New Canaan, and later left to focus on The Cottage, which opened in late 2015 in the space formerly occupied by Bill Taibe's Le Farm. The Cottage's cuisine is described as seasonally driven, influenced by artisan farmers and growers in the region. Lewis is working toward opening a modern Japanese-inspired restaurant in a Westport landmark, the Vigilant Hose Company Firehouse at 6 Wilton Road. The restaurant's name has yet to be released, but Lewis says the eatery should be open in another month. "It's just the most amazing news," Lewis says of his first Beard nomination.

"I'm just so, so grateful." The final Restaurant and Chef Award nominees will be announced March 14, and the 2018 James Beard Awards Gala will take place May 7, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Continued from Page Dl their styles. Anderson, who recently competed on the 15th season of Bravo's "Top Chef," announced last week that he and his team would be taking over the food and beverage operations at Hartford's Goodwin Hotel, opening the Spanish-themed Porron Pifia in the spaces formerly occupied by Harlan Brasserie and Side Bar. "It's awesome. I've wanted to win this award since I first started cooking," Anderson says of the latest nod.

The 2018 nomination means "a ton," he says, reflecting his busy 2017 as he left Connecticut for two months to tape the "Top Chef" season in Colorado, then returned to open The Cook and the Bear just a few weeks later. "It shows that I have a team that's excellent, and without them, nothing always believed it was a team honor, because no chef could ever be nominated by themselves, but this year, more than ever." After five straight years of semifinalist COURANT FILE PHOTO TYLER ANDERSON and Brian Lewis have been nominated as semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation's annual awards. nominations, Anderson is hoping to advance to the final rounds. "I'm very, very intent on getting to the next level of this thing," he says. Brian Lewis' background includes national recognition as the opening $150 OFF A SNORING PREVENTION APPLICATION Ms Guide to the To Advertise Your Ms (ProtftW Sleep Apnea? Let us put the smile back on your significant other's face.

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