Ostensibly, we already know the story of this documentary and the trajectory it will take. Zombie Girl: The Movie records the experiences of Austin resident Emily Hagins who, in 2005 at the age of 12, made her first feature film, a zombie picture titled Pathogen. It’s an inspirational story, of course, and also an illustrative tale for would-be filmmakers of any age. Emily wrote the script when she was 10, and once production starts, she also becomes the film’s producer, director, camera operator, casting director, and editor. Plus, she performs all these tasks while three cameramen whirl about her making their own documentary about this atypical filmmaker and her project. The history of how Emily arrived at the point of making her own movie is recounted in Zombie Girl: The Movie (and previous stories here in the Chronicle and elsewhere) so I won’t repeat it now. Suffice it to say that Emily’s saga has made her the crown princess of all geekdom, and this documentary about her budding career was fittingly rewarded with the Spirit of Slamdance Award when it debuted at that festival in 2009. However, if that’s all there were to this documentary there would be nothing to distinguish Zombie Girl: The Movie from the million other documentaries out there about single-minded visionaries who move heaven and Earth to accomplish their dreams. No, this is also a story about modern-day parenting, and the lessons the film has to teach us on the subject are just as illuminating as those about filmmaking strategies. Emily receives phenomenal support from parents who appear thrilled by the prospect of having raised an artist. Megan and Jerry Hagins support their only child with their time, money, and physical labor. Megan is not only constantly present at the end of the long pole holding a jury-rigged boom mike, she is also a visual artist who serves as the film’s co-producer, prop master, effects designer, caterer, and transportation coordinator who chauffeurs all the nondriving kid cast members and crew to and from the set. Unlike her daughter, who can work on school holidays and summer vacation, Megan takes days off from her job to help. Dad, Jerry, is a banjo player who is also very involved. As parents, they are caught between realizing that their daughter is both exceptional yet also a typical 12-year-old who doesn’t always think things through, plan strategically, see the big picture, or have a reserve of patience. Megan, who is at Emily’s side throughout the making of Pathogen, tries to guide her daughter’s impulses the way other moms and daughters tussle over haircuts and skirt lengths. The reviewers who have described Megan as a meddler are way off-base. The Hagins are pure enablers, helping their child to focus her vision while also realizing that their girl’s needs have begun to outstrip their own pool of knowledge. The documentary’s three co-directors are smart to privilege the mother-daughter aspect of the story, a focus that lends their film universal appeal. They also gathered plenty of first-person interviews so that the subjects can tell the story on their own without any scripted voiceover. Cute interstitials break the story into more understandable time interludes, while a sequence in which various speakers reflect on the revolution that is yet to be created by this first generation of fully digital filmmakers is totally on point. To wit: Emily Hagins is currently working on her third feature. (Screens Sunday-Wednesday only.)
This article appears in January 15 • 2010.
