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Searching for the South in 'Wrong-Eyed Jesus'

What happens when a British director known for making TV commercials and an American songwriter named Jim White get together to make a documentary about life on the backroads of the deep South?

A film called Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus.

White borrows a rusty 1970 Chevy Impala from a friend — for a price — and heads off down a country road, waxing philosophical all the way. Odd, random developments follow, cast against southern gothic scenes — lush, green swamps, fishing shacks and even a ghostly junkyard full of abandoned school buses. All is interspersed with gritty music from a variety of contemporary southern artists.

The way it all comes together prompts questions about the nature of the documentary genre. Director Andrew Douglas offers his thoughts on a variety of related subjects in a conversation with Debbie Elliott.

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