Campus Circle got the dirt on high-functioning zombies living in L.A. from director and UCLA Film School grad Grace Lee.

Why did you pick the subject of zombies for this documentary?

Zombies, like a lot of marginalized communities in America, seem to suffer from a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes. I was interested in going beyond what is commonly understood about the living dead and delving deeper. I wanted to find out what makes zombies tick, what motivates their behavior, how they feel about being stuck between life and death.

How did you pick your subjects to follow?

My co-director John [Solomon] introduced me to Ivan (a convenience store clerk) and then we put the word out that we were looking for more subjects. Word spread fast, and we picked the subjects who intrigued us the most.

What were some surprising things you learned in the filming process?

You can’t kill a zombie with a pocketknife.

What do you hope people come away from this film thinking?

I hope they have a deeper understanding about what it means to be a zombie and the challenges and difficulties of making a film about them.

American Zombie releases in select theaters March 28.