Film: Zombie Girl: The Movie (documentary) (http://www.zombiegirlthemovie.com/)

Studio: Bob B. Bob Productions

Directed by: Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall, and Erik Mauck

Principal Actors: Emily Hagins, Megan Hagins, Jerry Hagins, Harry Knowles (as themselves)

Screening Date: September 19, 2009 Kansas International Film Festival

Film length: 89 minutes

Rating: unrated

Reviewed By: Deborah Ground Buckner

Zombie Girl: The Movie is a perfect selection for a film festival, because it celebrates everything we love about films. This is a documentary about twelve-year-old Emily Hagins and her work in writing and directing a zombie movie, Pathogen. (http://cheesynuggets.com/pathogen.html)

As an eight-year-old, Emily loved movies and became particularly enthralled with The Fellowship of the Ring. She and her mother, Megan, went to see the film “20 or 30 times.” Emily wrote a fan letter to Peter Jackson. He wrote back and mentioned that since she lived in Austin, Texas, she should look up his friend, Harry Knowles, of Ain't It Cool News (www.aintitcool.com). As Knowles explains on film, Jackson also contacted him and told him about Emily. Knowles invited Emily to his 24-hour “Butt Numb-a-thon” movie marathon, mostly because Peter Jackson would be there and he thought she would like it. Among the films screened was Undead, the 2003 Australian zombie horror comedy. Seeing the film left Emily hooked on zombies and determined to make a film of her own.

With the help of her very supportive parents, Emily embarks on her project, creating a storyboard, hosting auditions and coordinating location shootings. She puts together a cast of young people, mostly close to her own age, and prepares dialog that is “somewhat scripted, somewhat improvisation,” offering such directing advice as “Act like yourself, except you're being chased by zombies.”

The documentary tells the story of the making of her film through interviews with Emily, her parents, and the young actors working with her. It flows with enthusiasm and the power of what an individual can do with the right encouragement and the necessary help. What is to be celebrated through this work is not Emily's film itself, but the process of film-making and watching young people engaged in setting a goal and working to achieve it.

Documentary coverage includes the premiere of Pathogen, with footage of Emily introducing her film (“There will be a Q and A afterward, but, please, no continuity questions—just don't.”). The film itself is not shown in this work, but that's really not the point. As one film critic quoted in the documentary says, Emily is not necessarily a “budding genius,” but “someone who has a budding interest.”

Seeing the story of a spark of interest that made a little girl write a fan letter and the kind response that led to the belief “I can do that!” is like watching the growth of an artistic snowball rolling down a mountain of creativity. It makes a documentary a “feel good” film that will have the audience members dreaming their own dreams once more.

Written by :

Deborah

 

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