{"id":484663,"date":"2026-06-05T14:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/484663\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:46:08","slug":"kino-lorber-acquires-maya-annik-bedwards-doc-black-zombie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/484663\/","title":{"rendered":"Kino Lorber Acquires Maya Annik Bedward\u2019s Doc \u2018Black Zombie\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber<\/a> has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Maya Annik Bedward<\/a>\u2019s documentary Black Zombie<\/a>, which debuted at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBlack Zombie will be released theatrically by Kino Lorber this fall, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe official synopsis reads: Black Zombie digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA 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, v\u00e9rit\u00e9 scenes, and interviews with cultural historians, artists, and genre legends including Yves-Gr\u00e9gory Francois, Mambo Labelle D\u00e9esse, Slash, Tom Savini, and Zandash\u00e9 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\u2019s most profitable monsters.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe deal for Black Zombie was negotiated by Kino Lorber VP of Acquisitions Karoliina Dwyer and Bill Straus of Bridge Independent.<\/p>\n

\n\tBlack 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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to partner with Kino Lorber on the release of Black Zombie,\u201d Maya Annik Bedward said in a statement. \u201cThe 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDwyer added: \u201cThe zombie is one of the most iconic images in cinema, and you\u2019ll 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\u2019re so proud to bring this documentary to U.S. audiences this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Maya Annik Bedward\u2019s documentary Black Zombie, which debuted at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[208456,93,61,60,72836,208457,270],"class_list":["post-484663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-black-zombie","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kino-lorber","tag-maya-annik-bedward","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}