By MICHAEL GINGOLD
A different kind of zombie chiller that debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is now set for the scary streaming service.
The folks at Shudder have announced that they have acquired U.S., UK/Ireland and Australia/New Zealand rights to BLOOD QUANTUM, written and directed by Mi’gmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby and featuring an indigenous cast. The latter is headed by Michael Greyeyes (FEAR THE WALKING DEAD), 2018 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship recipient Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Forrest Goodluck. The synopsis: “In BLOOD QUANTUM, the dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. Traylor [Greyeyes], the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees and reserve riffraff from the hordes of walking white corpses.”
BLOOD QUANTUM was shot in Montreal, Canada and the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, as well as Barnaby’s hometown of Listuguj, Quebec. “Natives have been on screen for 100 years but have never controlled that image,” Barnaby says. “In the age of representation, Shudder is putting their money where their mouth is and providing an opportunity for a whole new generation of indigenous genre filmmakers. They’re breaking that glass ceiling and opening the books on a whole new perspective. They’re making a genuine difference.”
“We are thrilled to bring Jeff Barnaby’s BLOOD QUANTUM to Shudder,” says the service’s Emily Gotto. “Jeff and his bold vision are at the forefront of Shudder’s ethos of original, provocative and stirring genre stories. BLOOD QUANTUM is a new, First Nations perspective on a classic genre, a film that takes zombies in a new direction as it harks back to the meaningful and politically aware roots of George Romero.”
