»The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything. ›You people with hearts,‹ he said, ›have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful.‹«
– from: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Lyman Frank Baum

Our everyday life is being transformed rapidly and discretely by automation and digitalisation. The world is changing at an increasingly fast pace – and not always for the better. Nothing will ever be the same again. One change can have far-reaching repercussions. It’s not a given that we’ll be able to save the outcome after all the dominoes have fallen. In times of crisis, post-apocalyptic settings gain in relevance. In fictional scenarios, people start to prepare for the end of the world – a society awaiting impending doom. Against this backdrop, norms become obsolete, our sense of community breaks down, social order disintegrates. Anarchy and chaos replace solidarity and stability. Culture, state control and laws collapse.

Zombies are the negative reflection of ourselves, the personified dark side of the human soul. At times like this, they become our constant companion. Adaptation and imitation are their survival strategy. The undead are not resurrected and redeemed after death, they are condemned to roam around on Earth and feed on living beings. This mutation is a kind of back-to-front version of the Christian mystery of redemption − the resurrection of the dead under negative omens.

But aren’t we perhaps also mutating into over-industrious zombies of late capitalism? We can respond submissively to this development or try to defend ourselves. The filmic experiment offers us the unusual opportunity to play through and act out such perspectives and scenarios. Let us rejoice in the downfall! Let us invent ourselves all over again!
– Nicole Rebmann