Stories Within

PJ Raval is a queer, first-generation Filipinx American filmmaker whose work amplifies social justice issues through the lived experiences and stories of queer and marginalized communities. Recognized as one of Out Magazine's OUT 100 and named American Documentary | POV’s Creative Visionary of 2024, PJ’s films have been featured on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, PBS, Discovery, and Showtime.

PJ’s acclaimed documentary Before You Know It follows three gay seniors in their golden years and was celebrated by indieWIRE as “a crucial new addition to the LGBT doc canon.” The film earned the 2016 NLGJA Association of LGBTQ Journalists Excellence in Documentary Award. His subsequent film, Call Her Ganda, investigates the murder of trans woman Jennifer Laude by a U.S. marine in the Philippines. Broadcast on POV (PBS) in 2019, the film was nominated for a Philippines Academy Award for Best Documentary. 

PJ’s most recent work, Who We Become is a coming-of-age documentary that follows the lives of three young Filipino American women in Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Distributed by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing, the film is currently streaming on Netflix.

PJ is an Associate Professor of Film at the University of Texas at Austin and is a co-founder of the NEA supported queer arts organization OUTsider. He serves on the steering committee of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) and is a Guggenheim Fellow, Soros Justice Fellow, USA Artist, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences where he serves as the chair of the Asian Affinity Group.