About the Film
THE DOCUMENTARY
Stories Within originally began as a gathering of community leaders to discuss how to support Texas’ AAPI community during a heightened time of pandemic-related hate crimes and in the aftermath of the 2021 Asian spa shooting in Georgia. The project evolved from a Stop Asian Hate PSA to its current short documentary film form. The project is in partnership with the Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF), which is also working with Austin Public Library and History Center, Big Medium and Asian American Resource Center.
filmmakers
PJ RAVAL
DIRECTOR
PJ Raval is a queer first generation Filipinx American filmmaker whose work examines social justice issues through the voices of queer and marginalized subjects. Named one of Out Magazine’s “Out 100,” Raval’s feature credits include TRINIDAD (Showtime) and BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (PBS), a film about three gay seniors hailed by indieWIRE as “a crucial new addition to the LGBT doc canon.” His film CALL HER GANDA chronicles the events surrounding the murder of trans woman Jennifer Laude by a US marine in the Philippines. GANDA broadcast on POV (PBS) in 2019 and was nominated for a Philippines Academy Award for Best Documentary and anchored an impact campaign with over 150+ community screenings, including a meeting with the US State Department. The film also inspired several Philippine human rights organization chapters in Texas.
An accomplished cinematographer, Raval shot the Academy Award-nominated documentary TROUBLE THE WATER and is a co-founder of the NEA supported queer transmedia arts organization OUTsider. He serves on the steering committee of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) and is a Soros Justice Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of both the Producers Guild and Writers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
HANNA HUANG
PRODUCER
LILLI HIME
WRITER
ANDREW LEE
PRODUCER
JENNY TINGHUI ZHANG
WRITER