Having known quite a few "aspiring directors," I noticed that often what kills the potential of so many talented and creative people is the failure to follow through on a project. They could learn a thing or two from the subject of this very entertaining documentary. Emily Haggins was a 10-year-old girl (now 16) who—perhaps against better judgment—decided to write and direct a zombie feature film. We see her try to make the ambitious Pathogen in her hometown of Austin; with schoolwork, budgeting and scheduling middle schoolers as actors being constant setbacks—a perseverance that's really impressive no matter how you slice it.
The doc drops in on local Austin film figures, including AICN's Harry Knowles and the Alamo Drafthouse caretaker Tim League, who know Emily personally and chime in on what they think of her effort, speculating on whether or not it would be fruitful. Well, after 4 years, Pathogen was completed and is now available on DVD, so Emily already has a leg up on most student filmmakers in their twenties.
Even more interesting as subjects are Emily's parents. The first fifteen minutes of the film, covering Emily's budding interest in genre films, is like an example of great parenting. Emily's father explains that they let their little girl watch the goriest and most explicit R-rated films at such a young age because they take the time to see them with her and explain to her what the images are/mean—you know, actual parenting stuff—so they're confident that even at her age, Emily is able to comprehend the real world applications. As Quentin Tarantino once said, "Violent films don't turn children into violent people. They may turn them into violent filmmakers..."
Emily's mother is especially inspiring, not to mention heartbreaking. Determined to support her daughter's creative outlet, she breaks her back at a full-time job, fulfills her motherly household chores, and still finds the time to be the most important driving force behind Pathogen. It clearly takes a toll on her, but she pushes on so Emily can finish her movie. We see how close they are just from looking at the photos of them camping out together for The Lord of the Rings. I don't plan on having kids, but if or when I do, the Haggins would be my role models.
When Emily first began her project, we see how inexperienced and clueless she is (she doesn't understand what a shot list is, or how to properly use a slate), but before long, the novelty of a little girl director disappears and we're just watching the trials of making a movie. It's pretty funny how seamlessly "amateur problems" turn into "production problems." Restless downtime, losing daylight, going over budget, emergency prop search, lack of extras, fickle actors, forced reshoots... These are the kind of things you face even in a big professional production. Similarly, Emily's clashes with her mother on set are not so much a mother-daughter schism but a producer-director one.
Tacked on near the end of the movie is a point about how the digital revolution has allowed kids like Emily to create films using just a consumer camera and a Mac (Pathogen was edited on iMovie). It also asks, should it be? Zombie Girl never shows what Pathogen ended up looking like, nor does it ever get reactions from anyone at its world premiere. A smart move, leaving room for the audience to project onto. We always complain about crap populating the film world and chastise certain filmmakers for churning out stinker after stinker, but they were all enthusiastic little film fans like Emily once. The challenge now is whether or not Emily can transfer her enthusiasm into something genuinely worthwhile.
Not to undermine her accomplishment, but I've decided that I don't want to watch Pathogen—for now—because I'd rather wait to see how Emily fares 5, 10, 15 years from now. There's a particular moment that Zombie Girl lingers on, where Emily argues with her mother about how films should be. Emily doesn't believe that film ought to make people think. She claims that they should just be fun to watch, and if you want to think, go read a book instead. Of course she's just a kid at that point, but when everyone's pointing out how grown-up and promising she is in this whole ordeal, I couldn't help but feel worried by her statement, especially when her first movie is a sub-genre commonly used as social commentary.
There's still hope. For now, it's enough to know that Emily's experience made for a wickedly fun movie as telling of the filmmaking process as the Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts of Darkness.
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Running time: 91
Country: US
Category: Valley of the Docs
Directed by: Aaron Marshall, Justin Johnson, Erik Mauck
Producers: Aaron Marshall, Justin Johnson, Erik Mauck
Cinematographers: Justin Johnson, Erik Mauck
Editor: Aaron Marshall
