EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Maya Annik Bedward’s documentary Black Zombie, which debuted at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.
The doc traces the origin and evolution of zombies from Haitian spiritual traditions to fixtures of Hollywood horror, examining the cinematic and historical context and reclaiming their deeper cultural significance as powerful symbols of survival and resistance.
Black Zombie will be released theatrically by Kino Lorber this fall, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.
The official synopsis reads: 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.
The deal for Black Zombie was negotiated by Kino Lorber VP of Acquisitions Karoliina Dwyer and Bill Straus of Bridge Independent.
Black Zombie is written and directed by Maya Annik Bedward. The film is produced by Bedward, Hannah Donegan, and Kate Fraser and executive produced by Jennifer Holness, Michael Paszt, Andrew Thomas Hunt, James Fler, and Slash.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Kino Lorber on the release of Black Zombie,” Maya Annik Bedward said in a statement. “The film explores the power of images to shape our understanding of history, culture, and race, making it especially meaningful to work with a distributor so deeply engaged with cinema’s past and present. Their passion for films that challenge, illuminate, and expand our understanding of the world makes them an ideal partner for bringing this story to audiences across the U.S.”
Dwyer added: “The zombie is one of the most iconic images in cinema, and you’ll never look at them the same after watching Black Zombie. Maya Annik Bedward has crafted a fascinating, deeply researched documentary that unearths the long-buried Haitian origins of the genre, interrogating colonial, political, and Hollywood history to powerful and illuminating effect. We’re so proud to bring this documentary to U.S. audiences this fall.”
