Grace Lee

American Zombie tells the story of two Los Angeles filmmakers who set out to document a group of high functioning zombies and their struggle to gain acceptance in human society.

American Zombie tells the story of two Los Angeles filmmakers who set out to document a group of high functioning zombies and their struggle to gain acceptance in human society.

When award-winning Korean-American filmmaker Grace Lee was growing up in Missouri, she was the only Grace Lee she knew. As an adult, however, she moved to New York and then California, where everyone she met seemed to know "another Grace Lee." But why did they assume that all Grace Lees were nice, dutiful, piano-playing bookworms? Pursuing the moving target of Asian American female identity, the filmmaker plunges into a clever, highly unscientific investigation of all those Grace Lees who break the mold, including the fiery social activist Grace Lee Boggs, the rebel Grace Lee who tried to burn down her high school, and the Silicon Valley teenager Grace Lee who spends evenings doing homework, playing piano, and painting graphic pictures of death and destruction. This refreshing film reveals the intriguing contradiction of the "Grace Lee" persona—simultaneously impressive and forgettable, special and generic, an emblem of a subculture and an individual who defies categorization. With wit and charm, The Grace Lee Project challenges the cultural investments made in the idea of Grace Lee, all the while sending her a love letter. A Women Make Movies Release.

American Zombie tells the story of two Los Angeles filmmakers who set out to document a group of highfunctioning zombies and their struggle to gain acceptance in human society. Despite their wildly different working styles, Grace and John manage to chronicle the hopes and dreams of four fascinating subjects: Ivan, a convenience-store clerk who longs for a career in publishing; Lisa, a florist trying to recover her lost memories; Judy, a hopeless romantic who learns to accept her true nature; and Joel (pronounced "Ho-El"), a committed political activist striving for zombie rights. As Grace seeks to get to know the zombies "on their own terms," John is eager to uncover their darker side and rallies to get the crew permission to shoot at a three-day, zombies-only retreat called Live Dead where the documentary takes an unexpected – and dangerous – turn. What transpires there is beyond anything the filmmakers could imagine, as they are forced to re-evaluate their ideas about tolerance, identity politics and the future of the human race.