DVD Review: Pedro: Anibal Lleras, Justina Machado, Matt Barr, Jennifer Liu, Hale Appleman, Teresa Hernandez, Karolin Luna, Alex Loynaz, DaJuan Johnson, Jenn Liu, Roy Sanchez, Alexis Garcia, Amy Lewis, Rafael Mondino, Nick Oceano: Movies & TV

Jul01

DVD Review: Pedro: Anibal Lleras, Justina Machado, Matt Barr, Jennifer Liu, Hale Appleman, Teresa Hernandez, Karolin Luna, Alex Loynaz, DaJuan Johnson, Jenn Liu, Roy Sanchez, Alexis Garcia, Amy Lewis, Rafael Mondino, Nick Oceano: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 1 July, 10:41 AM

Review
To this day, Pedro Zamora remains an extraordinary example of what a huge impact one young person can make in our world. I m very glad to have known him, and I m grateful his life has been able to inspire and enrich so many others. President Bill Clinton

Some members of Congress are getting a sneak-peek screening that is how big Pedro Zamora was.
LA Times

It s hard to top Pedro Zamora. It was an incredible moment in time. Entertainment Weekly

Sincere . . .touching. Hollywood Reporter

He was one of the first people to use a reality show for a greater purpose. Miami Herald

Long time fans of The Real World will never forget Pedro Zamora. New York Post

It s Pedro s script that s most impressive. Toronto Film Fest

This touching biographical docudrama chronicles the extraordinary life of the man who helped humanize the disease and vowed to keep the cameras going every step of the way, no matter how bad it gets.
TV Guide
The film is anchored by the strong performances of Alex Loynaz as Pedro and Six Feet Under s Justina Machado as Mily. OUT Magazine –Wolfe

Product Description
The true story of Pedro Zamora.

Celebrity. Activist. Icon.

In 1994, Bunim/Murray Productions made the ground-breaking decision to cast openly gay, HIV-positive Cuban-American Pedro Zamora as part of MTV s The Real World: San Francisco. Zamora s time in The Real World house on Lombard Street brought a face to the AIDS crisis; and U.S. President Bill Clinton credited Zamora with personalizing and humanizing those with the disease.

PEDRO celebrates the extraordinary life of Pedro Zamora; a young man who when he found out he was HIV positive at 17, made the courageous decision to dedicate the rest of his life to speaking out about his condition in an attempt to raise awareness about the disease in his community. His appearance on The Real World brought his story and his message to MTV s youthful audience and beyond; and when Zamora s health began to deteriorate in late 1994 (after he left the show), it became front page news nationwide, and his death at age 22 provoked a worldwide outpouring of grief. Stars Alex Loynaz and Justina Machado (Six Feet Under)

3 Episodes of THE REAL WORLD SAN FRANCISCO, featuring Pedro Zamora. Also, main feature is CC

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Remembering Pedro Zamora,

By Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

“Pedro”
“Remembering Pedro Zamora

Amos Lassen

Pedro Zamora who we got to know and love 15 years ago during the third season of MTV’s The Real World died and we cried. We cry again watching the MTV film “Pedro” released by Wolfe Video.

Pedro was an HIV-positive Cuban-American whose tine in the Real World house on Lombard Street brought a face to the AIDS crisis. Then-President Bill Clinton, who has taped a special introduction to this film, credited Zamora with personalizing and humanizing those with the disease. We learned that Pedro learned he was HIV-positive while a junior in high school. When he was just 17 and decided to spend the rest of his life educating people about the disease that claimed his life just five years later.
He died the night the final episode of the season aired; however, I doubt it is well-known how much he suffered in his final months. As we watched Pedro an amazingly articulate young man give HIV-prevention talks in schools, off-screen he could no longer speak. He suffered from PML, a rare and usually fatal viral inflammation of the brain contracted by only about 1 percent of AIDS patients. What is so interesting is that the film boldly shows his physical deterioration and the tensions between his family and his partner.
Watching this film was like reliving 1994. We were younger then and times were different. Pedro became our friend and his pain was our pain, his joy was out joy. “The Real World” was the first of the reality shows and it made headlines by having gay characters. “Pedro” reminds us how ahead of the times the series was.

This is an excellent film directed by Nick Oceano and it a top-notch cast. Alex Loynaz as Pedro is amazing and while he doesn’t especially look like Zamora facially and doesn’t try to imitate his speech, he does capture the essence of Pedro wonderfully. He is complimented in the many scenes with the Justina Machado who plays his sister, Milly. You She is heartbreaking in the way she shows her love for her brother. The rest of the cast is excellent.

Dustin Lance Black, who won the Academy Award for Milk, is credited with writing Pedro and shares the story credit with Paris Barclay.
Pedro is set to premiere on MTV and Logo on April 1 with a DVD release that will also contain three Real World episodes from the San Francisco season, to follow. This is a film that young people who watch will get a much-needed wake-up call about HIV and AIDS. Infections are on the upswing and it is obviously because of the treatments now available that no longer make it a death sentence. But what I remember most about the period of Pedro’s life was the horror of young people like Pedro, just starting out in life with so much to give, and then die horrible deaths. “Pedro” is a wonderful film with a great deal to say.
Search Pedro: Anibal Lleras, Justina Machado, Matt Barr, Jennifer Liu, Hale Appleman, Teresa Hernandez, Karolin Luna, Alex Loynaz, DaJuan Johnson, Jenn Liu, Roy Sanchez, Alexis Garcia, Amy Lewis, Rafael Mondino, Nick Oceano: Movies & TV from AmAzon

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