Academy Award-winning screenwriter
Dustin Lance Black must be taking out stock in Kleenex. His follow
up project to Milk is another emotional biopic of a gay man
who inspired but met an untimely death.
Pedro Zamora became the face of AIDS in
1994. That year, Zamora, the son of a Cuban immigrant, openly and
honestly lived his life as an HIV-positive man on MTV's Real
World: San Francisco. Millions tuned in to root for Zamora after
he admitted to being gay and testing positive for HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS, at 17.
The simply titled film Pedro,
directed by Nick Oceano and written by Dustin Lance Black, tells
Zamora's heartbreaking story.
The film opens with a statement from
President Bill Clinton: “To this day, Pedro Zamora remains an
extraordinary example of what a huge impact one young person can make
in our world. I'm glad to have known him, and I'm grateful his life
has been able to inspire and enrich so many others.”
After learning he was HIV-positive,
Zamora dedicated his life to speaking out about the disease. As the
finale of World approached, his health rapidly declined and he
ultimately succumbed to the disease at the young age of 22. His
death sparked a national dialog about HIV/AIDS, especially among
young people.
Pedro will have its simultaneous
world premiere April 1 on cable channel MTV and gay channel Logo.