haiti

Black Zombie doesn’t delve into the whole history of vodou over its one hour and 30 minutes, but what it does show through the dancing, music, and ritual artwork in long takes and medium and wide shots conveys respect, warmth, and joy. In one scene, a vodou priest in white navigates a spiral at the ruins of a sugarcane mill barefoot, slowly dancing and singing in Creole, as if commemorating those lost and celebrating liberation. Vodou helped unite African slaves and trigger the Haitian Revolution, which ended in 1804. Demonizing it is by design, one historian says, playing into White fears of Black power and payback.