Screening accompanying the exhibition “In God We Trust”

Searching for The Wrong-Eyed Jesus
dir. Andrew Douglas
2003, Great Britain, 87 min

Searching for the wrong eyed Jesus is a thought-provoking road trip through the American South – a world of Churches; prisons; coalmines; truckstops; juke joints; swamps; and mountains. Along the way we encounter various musicians, including the Handsome Family, John Dowd, 16 Horsepower and David Johansen; old time banjo player Lee Sexton; Rockabilly and Mountain Gospel churches; and novelist Harry Crews telling grisly stories down a dirt track. The film is a collage of stories and testimonies, almost invariably of sudden death, sin or redemption: Heaven or Hell, with no middle ground. And all the while, a strange Southern Jesus looms in the background. ‘Alt Country’ singer Jim White reflects upon exactly what it is about this baffling place that inspires musicians and writers, whilst at the same time working through his own preoccupations with his muse – or, as he puts it, “trying to find the gold tooth in God’s crooked smile”.

multimedia room
entrance from Burschego Street
admission free