Directed by Maya Annik Bedward
Black Zombie
Directed by Maya Annik Bedward
Black Zombie digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie’s buried and unsettling origins. Long before it became associated with flesh-eating ghouls, the zombie was a living metaphor for slavery: not a monster, but the ultimate victim of colonial power. A symbol of stolen agency was recast as an object of fear, while Black spiritual traditions were distorted, sensationalized, and erased. Director Maya Annik Bedward traces the evolution of the zombie from colonial Haiti to contemporary Hollywood, reconsidering iconic films like White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow alongside archival footage, vérité scenes, and interviews with cultural historians, artists, and genre legends including Yves-Grégory Francois, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, and Zandashé Brown. Part cultural reckoning, part horror remix, Black Zombie exposes how a figure born from enslavement, spiritual belief, and resistance was transformed into one of pop culture’s most profitable monsters.
Reviews More Reviews
“An act of reclamation…Black Zombie demands you reconsider both the horrors humans are capable of and the untold beauty of the living and the dead.”
“Odds are, none of the people shuffling and snarling through Halloween “zombie walks” knows this history, making Black Zombie an eye-opening reclamation.”
Awards & Festivals
Press & Exhibitors
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Technical Info
Press & Promotion:
playdates
| Venue | City | State | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landmark Nuart Theatre | Los Angeles | CA | 1789099200September 11 - September 17, 2026 |
| Quad Cinema | New York | NY | 1789099200September 11 - September 17, 2026 |
| River Oaks Theater | Houston | TX | 1790654400September 29, 2026 |
| Savor Cinema | Fort Lauderdale | FL | 1789444800September 15, 2026 |
| SPACE | Portland | ME | 1791172800October 5, 2026 |
| The Broad Theater | New Orleans | LA | 1789358400September 14, 2026 |
| Tomorrow Theater | Portland | OR | 1790827200October 1, 2026 |
| Yale Film Archive | New Haven | CT | 1793246400October 29, 2026 |