“There are a lot of people who love zombies now who have no idea its roots.” Kino Lorber has revealed the official trailer for a documentary film titled Black Zombie, a fascinating cinema history doc about the true origins of zombies. This premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival, with stops at other fests including Hot Docs in Canada, now ready for release in theaters starting in September. The powerful doc traces the origin and evolution of zombies from Haitian spiritual traditions to fixtures of Hollywood horror, examining the cinematic & historical context, reclaiming their deeper cultural significance as powerful symbols of survival and resistance. A new doc film by Afro-Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker Maya Annik Bedward. 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. Wow! This looks like an unforgettable look back at film history with so many interesting conversations. Not only should it be shown in film school – this should be shown in school to everyone to teach us all about the real history of zombies.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Maya Annik Bedward’s doc Black Zombie, direct from YouTube:
Black Zombie digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie’s buried & unsettling origins. Long before it was associated with flesh-eating ghouls, 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 many genre legends – including Yves-Grégory Francois, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, Zandashé Brown.
Black Zombie is directed by Afro-Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker Maya Annik Bedward, making her first feature film after directing on the series “Lido TV” and “Farm Crime” previously, as well as more short films. Produced by Maya Annik Bedward, Kate Fraser, and Hannah Donegan. This initially premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, and it also played at Hot Docs, Chicago Critics, Thessaloniki, and other festivals. Kino Lorber debuts Maya Annik Bedward’s Black Zombie doc film in select US theaters starting September 11th, 2026 coming up soon. For more info on the release, visit their official site. Looks good?
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