KILLING PATIENT ZERO

Scapegoated as “Patient Zero” at the center of the AIDS epidemic, Gaëtan Dugas was the handsome, openly gay French-Canadian flight attendant characterized as singlehandedly spreading AIDS to North America. In this riveting documentary, director Laurie Lynd sets out to dismantle this myth, exonerating Dugas from the character assassination he received in Randy Shilts' explosive book And the Band Played On. Adapted from Richard McKay's non-fiction book Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic, KILLING PATIENT ZERO is a stylish oral history that combines exhaustive research with honest, wide-ranging interviews with Dugas’ friends, cultural historians (including perennial favorite Fran Leibowitz), CDC scientists, and more, to set the record of an epidemic straight once and for all.

Part of The 32nd Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival

Presented in partnership with Making Gay History and ACT UP

Laurie Lynd