Been awhile since we wrote about this flick; just learned that it’s actually on a limited theatrical run, gradually expanding to cities around the USA; and just in time for Halloween too.
We first alerted you all to The Dead, in April, last year; at the time, its future was uncertain. A month or so later, it screened at the Cannes Film Market to strong positive audience responses, and managed its way to some distribution opportunities – opportunities that are finally now being realized.
As I said in my initial post… if District 9 was the “Aliens In Africa” project, then we could maybe call The Dead the “Zombies In Africa” project.
Co-directed by brothers Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford (Americans), the film was shot entirely on location in mostly Burkina Faso and Ghana, in West Africa, and is described as “a powerful story of one man’s struggle to survive in extreme circumstances all the while battling against a menacing threat all around him!”
An American mercenary, the sole survivor of a plane crash, has to run the gauntlet across Africa, battling the living dead, joining forces with a local military man, who is desperately searching for his son amongst the chaos, as they fight together to survive.
Naturally, the American mercenary is Caucasian, not-so unlike the hero in District 9, amidst a sea of zombies, seemingly made up entirely of black Africans. It’s not an allegorical tale, but some layered analysis of just the concept alone could be a dissertation.
As I’ve said previously, while I’ll certainly welcome, and even embrace a zombie film made in any part of Africa, starring Africans, this particular set up makes me a little uncomfortable, if past films about Africans in Africa, with white lead protagonists, produced by non-Africans (read whites) are any indication of what to expect.
However, I haven’t seen the film, so I’ll reserve my full critique for when I actually see the film; assuming I am able to see it. There may be more to it than I’m giving it credit for.
The film has been traveling the country since October 7th, screening in short runs in just about every quadrant; and starting tomorrow, it’ll open in Muskegon, MI, Philadelphia, PA, El Paso, TX, San Antonio, TX, and Tuscon, AZ. According to its website, it’ll continue to travel through the end of November, so it just might screen at a theater near you. To find out if that’s the case, click HERE.
It already screened in NYC, and I obviously missed it. But I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity to see The Dead one way or another, and once I do, you’ll know what I think. But if it’s already screened in your city, and you saw it, I’d love to read your thoughts.
Trailer below:
