Reporter Zero

(25’, dir. Carrie Lozano, USA)





Reporter Zero (25’, produced and directed by Carrie Lozano) is a short documentary film that chronicles journalist Randy Shilts’ groundbreaking AIDS reporting, and the controversies his work sparked.
In 1981, Randy Shilts became the first openly gay reporter at a major U.S. newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle. Soon after, a new and fatal virus would begin attacking gay men.
While most media outlets all but ignored the story, Randy Shilts would spend years on the front lines of the unfolding global crisis, documenting not only its impact on the gay community, but also the complex, sometimes inadequate, response to the disease.
His unending drive to cover AIDS would make him the Chronicle’s star reporter. But his unflinching coverage alienated many of the people he was trying to help, and some publicly regarded him as “a gay Uncle Tom.”
In 1987, Shilts’ reporting culminated in his best-selling book And the Band Played On, which made him a global AIDS celebrity. But tragedy loomed at the height of his career.
Beginning with zero fatalities and ending with 23 million, it’s a cautionary tale about the events that prevented civil rights, public health, and one reporter from finding common ground.
More info: www.reporterzero.com

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