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<v Speaker 1>Oh gee, folks, it show die. People say good money

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<v Speaker 1>to see this movie.

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<v Speaker 2>When they go out to a theater, they want clod sodas,

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<v Speaker 2>hot popcorn in No monsters in the projection booth.

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<v Speaker 3>Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.

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<v Speaker 4>Got it off?

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<v Speaker 3>Hey, folks, Welcome to a special episode of The Projection Move.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm your host Mike White. On this episode, I am

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<v Speaker 3>talking with Maya Annik Bedward all about her new documentary

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<v Speaker 3>Black Zombie. The film recently had its premiere at the

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<v Speaker 3>south By Southwest Film Festival, and we'll be going to

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<v Speaker 3>some more festivals as it goes along. It is a

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<v Speaker 3>great look at action vodoo instead of voodoo. How it's

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<v Speaker 3>been kind of twisted by Hollywood. We talked a little

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<v Speaker 3>bit about this way back when on our sugar Hill episode.

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<v Speaker 3>This one goes into some other zombie films including I

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<v Speaker 3>Walked with a Zombie Live and Let Die, The Serpent

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<v Speaker 3>and The Rainbow. Some really good stuff, some great interviews,

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<v Speaker 3>very entertaining documentary. I would recommend that you check it

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<v Speaker 3>out as soon as you possibly can. Thanks so much

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<v Speaker 3>for listening, and I hope you enjoyed this interview. I

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<v Speaker 3>want to know a little bit more about you and

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<v Speaker 3>how you got into filmmaking.

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<v Speaker 5>Films have always been a passion for me ever since

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<v Speaker 5>I can remember, so my desire to be a filmmaker

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<v Speaker 5>was always a huge thing. And I'd say there was

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<v Speaker 5>like the practical side in me and how I was raised,

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<v Speaker 5>which was like, Okay, do something safe and get a

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<v Speaker 5>job in that. And then there was like the more

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<v Speaker 5>passionate side of me that was like, I would really

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<v Speaker 5>love to be a filmmaker. And I think I finally

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<v Speaker 5>made the decision to be a filmmaker or to try

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<v Speaker 5>for it, when I was living in Brazil and I

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<v Speaker 5>was surrounded by so many incredible artists down there and

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<v Speaker 5>they really inspired me, and I thought I should at

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<v Speaker 5>least try. So that's how I got into filmmaking, and

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<v Speaker 5>then I started working with production companies and going from there.

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<v Speaker 3>What was kind of your fall mac job? What did

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<v Speaker 3>your folks want.

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<v Speaker 2>You to be?

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<v Speaker 5>My parents they were very supportive of my filmmaking, but

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<v Speaker 5>I was raised in Ottawa, which is the capital of Canada,

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<v Speaker 5>so it's a government town and they always thought of

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<v Speaker 5>that as an option. And I love to travel, so

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<v Speaker 5>they thought I should be a diplomat or a lawyer

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<v Speaker 5>one or the other.

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<v Speaker 3>You've been making films in various forms and TV series

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<v Speaker 3>for years. Can you tell me what kind of attraction

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<v Speaker 3>to different.

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<v Speaker 5>Projects, projects that were the way we generally see certain

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<v Speaker 5>stories that challenge kind of our perceptions, things that are

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<v Speaker 5>gener usually a misconception. So I'm really interested in stories

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<v Speaker 5>that are kind of like challenging dominant narratives that are true.

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<v Speaker 5>So that's definitely where Black Zombie fits into that. A

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<v Speaker 5>lot of my stories are also inspired by my personal background.

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<v Speaker 5>I'm Afro Caribbeans, so I'm really interested in stories around

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<v Speaker 5>the Afrocribbean diaspora, our history, our culture, and our traditions.

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<v Speaker 5>Black Zombie definitely came from this interest, this passion I

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<v Speaker 5>have for learning more about our history, my history, traditions

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<v Speaker 5>and culture. You know, a lot of people say the

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<v Speaker 5>history of being black and living in the America is

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<v Speaker 5>like the history that predates colonialism is lost, Like our

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<v Speaker 5>connection to West Africa has lost, a lot of these

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<v Speaker 5>traditions are lost, a lot of this culture is lost.

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<v Speaker 5>And as I got older, I realized this isn't true,

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<v Speaker 5>Like there are a lot of elements of these traditions

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<v Speaker 5>and cultures exist in our music and our food, and

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<v Speaker 5>most powerfully in our spiritual traditions. And I became really

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<v Speaker 5>interested in learning more about Vodu Candnble Santa Ria. So

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<v Speaker 5>when I found out the zombie actually had its roots

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<v Speaker 5>in Haitian vod I was blown away to learn that.

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<v Speaker 5>I had no idea that's where it came from, and

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<v Speaker 5>that's was its origin. And the minute I learned that,

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<v Speaker 5>I knew I had to make a film about it.

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<v Speaker 5>And I've been working.

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<v Speaker 3>On it ever since. What year was that, Oh, my.

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<v Speaker 5>Gosh, two thousand and eleven, maybe twenty twelve. Yeah, I

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<v Speaker 5>learned that, and then I've been pretty much working intentionally

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<v Speaker 5>on this film for over ten years.

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<v Speaker 3>How did you start to gather all your research and everything?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, this is a huge topic.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's a very huge topic. A lot of people

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<v Speaker 5>are like my trying to fit too much into a

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<v Speaker 5>ninety minute film, and I thought, okay, well let's try Anyway,

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<v Speaker 5>I started in Haiti. I always want to center the

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<v Speaker 5>voice of Haitian vodo practitioners, so that was really important

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<v Speaker 5>to me, and I started a lot of my research

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<v Speaker 5>there and working with members of that community and also

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<v Speaker 5>practitioners across the diaspora and speaking with them and learning

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<v Speaker 5>more about the traditions of vod As it began to

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<v Speaker 5>get thundeing, I started reaching out more to like the

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<v Speaker 5>people connected to the appropriation part of the story, how

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<v Speaker 5>the zombie was taken from Haiti and brought to Hollywood,

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<v Speaker 5>and who were the voices who could speak to that

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<v Speaker 5>story and interviewing those people, and I always knew I

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<v Speaker 5>wanted to focus on White Zombie, which was the first

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<v Speaker 5>zombie that brought the zombie to Hollywood, the first movie

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<v Speaker 5>I should say that brought the zombie to Hollywood, and

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<v Speaker 5>I did The Living Dad, which is of course that

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<v Speaker 5>like Pinnacle film that created the fleshyting zombie, and then

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<v Speaker 5>Serpent and the Rainbow was all a very important film

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<v Speaker 5>for me because I think it's the reason why some

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<v Speaker 5>people still might know that the Zobbie is connected to

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<v Speaker 5>Haiti but not really understand why. They might know that

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<v Speaker 5>it involves like a pufferfish and some white powder, but

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<v Speaker 5>they can't really explain more than that. And I think

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<v Speaker 5>that's really because of the film Serpent and the Rainbow

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<v Speaker 5>that was made by Wes cravean Wes Craven and was

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<v Speaker 5>based off of the book of the same name, so

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<v Speaker 5>that those are important things for me to tell on

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<v Speaker 5>the film.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm so curious about your actual subjects, especially the folks

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<v Speaker 3>that were in Haiti. Was there any hesitation to talk

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<v Speaker 3>with you about this stuff or did your background help

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<v Speaker 3>you out with that?

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<v Speaker 5>For sure, I had to build trust. I'm not from

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<v Speaker 5>where we were filming, mostly was in Jackmel. I'm not

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<v Speaker 5>from jack Mel, I'm not Haitian, And most importantly, I'm

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<v Speaker 5>not a Fo dou practitioner. I don't practice FO do.

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<v Speaker 5>I have a lot of respect for the traditions, so

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<v Speaker 5>I really had to explain my attention why was I

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<v Speaker 5>making this film, especially since they're such a long tradition

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<v Speaker 5>of exploiting this culture and misrepresenting it and creating these

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<v Speaker 5>racist tropes. So talk really about what was my intention?

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<v Speaker 5>Why was I making the film? And I created an

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<v Speaker 5>advisory committee to make sure that I was telling the

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<v Speaker 5>history of Haiti and portraying Voto in a positive and

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<v Speaker 5>respectful way. And I also made sure that all of

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<v Speaker 5>my contributors could watch the film and if they had

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<v Speaker 5>any issues with the way Voting was portrayed or Haiti

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<v Speaker 5>was portrayed, they could let me know and give me

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<v Speaker 5>feedback on the film. It was definitely a process to

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<v Speaker 5>build that trust and very important to me that I

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<v Speaker 5>was making sure I was showing things respectfully and I

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<v Speaker 5>wanted to, you know, I really wanted to show Haiti

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<v Speaker 5>differently than what we see in the news, like often

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<v Speaker 5>we see it as this like dangerous, poor, corrupt country,

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<v Speaker 5>and it's just it's such a beautiful, rich, incredible culture

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<v Speaker 5>and people, and it's really unfortunate what's happening right now

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<v Speaker 5>after the assassination of their president. Things have just become

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<v Speaker 5>so dire and a lot of the people who a

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<v Speaker 5>lot of the crew that I worked with, a lot

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<v Speaker 5>of the contributors I worked with, if they could leave,

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<v Speaker 5>have left. And these are people who love their country

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<v Speaker 5>and didn't want to leave under any circumstance. So it's

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<v Speaker 5>really really tough to see what's happening to this incredible country.

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<v Speaker 5>And my goal was actually to like go and shoot

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<v Speaker 5>it like in a very high production caliber, like bring

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<v Speaker 5>a lot of high production to it. But unfortunately, with

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<v Speaker 5>what happened, it just became too dangerous to shoot there again.

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<v Speaker 5>Bringing a camera out to these kind of like cultural

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<v Speaker 5>festivals that weren't happening in the same scope anyway, because

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<v Speaker 5>things had just become so dangerous, we weren't able to

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<v Speaker 5>do that. So it was really that was really difficult

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<v Speaker 5>and sad to not be able to do. But I

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<v Speaker 5>was fortunate that I could actually partner with an incredible

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<v Speaker 5>team the Dominican Republic who are Afro Dominican and really

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<v Speaker 5>understand and we're able to care for, like our Haitian

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<v Speaker 5>crew and contributors who we brought from Haiti to the

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<v Speaker 5>Dominican Republic to finish the project. So actually there are

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<v Speaker 5>quite a few scenes that are shot with our contributors

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<v Speaker 5>and our Haitian crew in the Dominican Republic, and we

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<v Speaker 5>also worked with there's a huge Asian population in the

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<v Speaker 5>Dominican Republic, so some of the practitioners are actually based

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<v Speaker 5>in the Dominican Republic that we see there. So it's

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<v Speaker 5>a mixture of that footage and what we originally shot

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<v Speaker 5>in Haiti and we used to finish the film.

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<v Speaker 3>Things haven't been easy in Haiti. I remember what the

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<v Speaker 3>earthquake of twenty ten, then we've had the assassination and

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<v Speaker 3>then also in the middle there you've got COVID. I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>it must have been very difficult just with all the

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<v Speaker 3>logistics of everything.

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<v Speaker 5>Haiti doesn't have the resources to move through something like

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<v Speaker 5>COVID and the earthquake, Like a lot of the damage

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<v Speaker 5>that happened is a result of like poor infrastructure and

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<v Speaker 5>all of that is a result of like this like

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<v Speaker 5>extraction and exploitation that's happened to this country. Like Haiti

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<v Speaker 5>is poor because it's been punished for the Haitian Revolution

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<v Speaker 5>and the reparations it has to pay, and that's what

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<v Speaker 5>we're seeing to this day. And so we've faced those

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<v Speaker 5>conditions head on with the making of this film, like

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<v Speaker 5>we're very much feeling that history as we're making a film.

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<v Speaker 3>Is self by Southwest your premiere, Yes, it's our world premiere.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you have any other dates in mind or where

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<v Speaker 3>can people go to keep up with that?

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, so you can go to our Instagram page. It's

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<v Speaker 5>called Black Zombie Movie on Instagram and we'll be posting updates.

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<v Speaker 5>The European premiere is happening at Tesnaniki, which is an

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<v Speaker 5>amazing international documentary festival in Greece, and then we just

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<v Speaker 5>just announce today the Canadian premiere will be at Hot Dogs.

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<v Speaker 3>My I Loved Black zombie. I look forward to seeing

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<v Speaker 3>what you do next. Thank you so much again for

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<v Speaker 3>your time.

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<v Speaker 5>Thank you, it's really nice chanting with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Mike bo who hoot, hoot hoo hook. The knife came down,

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<v Speaker 1>the sky turned bly, the drumle.

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<v Speaker 2>Drum bit the heads by the bird to the wide

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<v Speaker 2>drunk st plumber Wood put on.

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<v Speaker 1>Cli high over the girl lie stro a sky, put

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<v Speaker 1>on the shirt, got up a grin hum. They had

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<v Speaker 1>a cold black cow and the layers of her eyes

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of white skin. I took up the darkening skies.

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<v Speaker 2>See the same I om WAUSI had a tar.

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<v Speaker 1>Man had a solid as fell the is and nothing

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<v Speaker 1>out and then they raised his hands. The nice good

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<v Speaker 1>still a lot around at the crowd, un tail a

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<v Speaker 1>little double, can't.

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<v Speaker 4>You there on tar?

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<v Speaker 1>There allbround down the light of the you do be

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<v Speaker 1>stuff and it sounds like this more. Now he's calling listen.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's the no woods, but all what is man

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<v Speaker 1>the rosy All the time I'm saying it's hard jump

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<v Speaker 1>drinking chuck. Something around you came to us. The mind.

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<v Speaker 2>Fell and then out the next stop, staying on one

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<v Speaker 2>well town, it's.

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<v Speaker 6>Likely do you difficult din to

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<v Speaker 1>You anything, and the subding not to me