PJ Raval

PJ Raval is a Filipino-American gay filmmaker and cinematographer known for the documentary Before You Know It (2013), which followed three older gay men -- including a drag performer in his eighties -- navigating life, community, and aging in an America that was only beginning to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ elders. He earlier co-directed Trinidad: Transgender Frontier (2008) with Jay Hodges, following two trans women undergoing surgery with Dr. Marci Bowers in Trinidad, Colorado, and later directed Call Her Ganda (2018), about the murder of Filipina trans woman Jennifer Laude by a US Marine, which premiered at Tribeca and won awards at Outfest and the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival. Raval has spoken about the importance of documenting queer elders and trans lives whose histories would otherwise be lost.