OH DEAR LORD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?
by Asreen ZANGANA
2022 / Super 8 / b&w / sound / 22’
difficulty navigating life as a post-pubescent adult suddenly shedding skin.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
“Asreen Zangana directs “Oh Dear Lord What is Wrong With Your Face?” a Super 8 black-and-white film looking at familial relationships through body horror. Surrounded with ominous mechanical hums and noises, we see a pair of hands who can be assumed to be that of a teenager. The character peels away at their skin, layer by layer. Their father, who can’t seem to stop squirming or grimacing, tries to console his child while the mother ridicules the child in sheer disgust. A priest is called to the house in hopes of making some sense of the situation, but he seems to be yet another addition to the absurd ensemble of characters in Zangana’s world. The film, already jarring, then embarks on a rapid montage of clips and frames stripped from the film. Distinct in its analog feel and sound, “Oh Dear Lord What is Wrong With Your Face?” embraces older experimental film techniques but with a sensibility, both in its subject matter and genre, that feels relevant to today.” -NO BUDGE
“OH DEAR LORD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE? by Asreen Zangana who examines the identity crisis and familial neurosis in a fashion that is both aurally and visually stunning. This 20-minute attack on the senses can be described as ‘Ed Wood leads a BEGOTTEN-ized dialogue with John Waters in a necrorealist recesses of David Lynch’s subconscious mind, and Peter Tscherkassky’s meta-universe’.” - Kinoskop film festival