On DVD today, November 9: ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE
Austin-based filmmakers Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall, and Erik Mauck collaborated on this documentary portrait, which premiered at Slamdance last year and fittingly won the Spirit of Slamdance Award. The film has had a nice festival run, and is now out on DVD, partnered with the narrative feature whose production the doc charts, PATHOGEN.
The titular figure in the doc is not a member of the walking dead, but Emily Hagins, a twelve-year-old filmmaker who sets out to make her own zombie film, recruiting family members, friends, and classmates to help. Despite limited experience and a fairly limited budget (though helped by a young filmmaker’s grant), Hagin’s DIY spirit lets her balance curfews with long shoots to get the job done, culminating in a successful hometown premiere screening. While we don’t see enough of her film, PATHOGEN, to really tell how good it is, that’s not really the point of ZOMBIE GIRL – the filmmakers have very successfully captured Emily as a character, and the infectious fun of her process of filmmaking.
what (not) to doc 