Pedro | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Nick Oceano |
Produced by |
Richard Glatzer Wash Westmoreland Paris Barclay Anne Clements Scott Freeman Gil Goldschein Jonathan Murray Chris Panizzon |
Written by | Dustin Lance Black |
Story by | Dustin Lance Black Paris Barclay |
Starring |
Alex Loynaz Justina Machado Hale Appleman Matt Barr |
Music by | Barbara Cohen |
Cinematography | Mark Putnam |
Edited by | Jonathan Alberts |
Distributed by | Wolfe Video |
Release date
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Pedro is a 2008 American film about Pedro Zamora, an openly gay, Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality, who became famous as a castmember on The Real World: San Francisco, MTV's reality television series. It was produced by Bunim-Murray Productions, the same company that produces The Real World, and is their first scripted project. It was produced by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, written by Dustin Lance Black and Paris Barclay (story) and directed by Nick Oceano. The film stars Alex Loynaz, Justina Machado and Hale Appleman.
The film was an Official Selection at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film aired on MTV on April 1, 2009 before the season finale of The Real World: Brooklyn.
The film opens with 22-year-old AIDS activist Pedro Zamora in his New York City hotel room in 1994, getting ready for an appearance on CBS. His contact calls him to ask why he has not arrived at the studio, but Zamora, disoriented, does not know who he is. Hotel security subsequently finds him lying unconscious on the floor.
In flashback, 21-year-old Zamora is in Miami, Florida, where his family emigrated from Cuba. After making an audition tape for MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco, he is interviewed by producers. He tells him that if he is cast, he will not change his name to "Peter", nor hide his HIV status. He says that it does not matter if he dies of AIDS, as it is more important that he speak out about the disease. He is eventually cast, and meets his housemates when he moves into the house. As the housemates get to know one another, Judd Winick, who was informed by the producers that he would be living with someone with AIDS, is nervous about which of his housemates has it.