BLACK ZOMBIE

description

From the flickering screens of Hollywood horror to the haunted cane fields of colonial Haiti, the documentary unearths the buried origins of the zombie, reclaiming it as a symbol of survival and spiritual resistance.

BLACK ZOMBIE digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the story of the most popular, yet misunderstood monster of our time. Born from enslavement, spiritual belief, and resistance, the zombie first emerged in Haiti before becoming one of pop culture’s most profitable monsters. The film traces its evolution from Vodou, to WHITE ZOMBIE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. Part cultural reckoning, part horror remix, BLACK ZOMBIE is a bold reclamation of Haitian Vodou and celebration of the only nation forged through a successful slave uprising.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW 2026
Hot Docs 2026

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Maya Annik Bedward is an Afro-Caribbean-Canadian film director whose work blends history, resistance, and pop culture through bold, genre-bending storytelling. Her work has screened at TIFF, Hot Docs, BlackStar, and the New Orleans Film Festival. Her credits include the short films THE HAIRCUT (2018) and WHY WE FIGHT (2021), as well as the TV series LIDO TV (2022) and BLK: AN ORIGIN STORY (2022). She is a founding member of the Black Screen Office, championing stories that center Black creativity and power.