Harlem Theatrical Premiere
PJ Raval, 2018, 98 min
Friday, September 21st - Thursday, September 27th, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7:00pm, 9:45pm
When 26-year old Filipina transgender woman and alleged sex worker, Jennifer Laude, is found dead with her head plunged into a motel room toilet, the perpetrator is quickly identified as 19-year-old U.S. marine Joseph Scott Pemberton. A military recruit in an unfamiliar land, Pemberton was on “liberty leave” when he solicited Jennifer at a disco. On discovering that Jennifer was transgender, he brutally murdered her, leaving her to be found by her friend and the motel receptionist.
Amidst a media storm and police inquiry, as Jennifer’s family copes with their loss, three women intimately invested in the case, pursue justice—taking on hardened histories of U.S. imperial rule that have allowed previous American perpetrators to evade consequence: An activist attorney, Virgie Suarez, who labors to reveal the truth of Jennifer’s death from inside the courtroom—in the face of strategic silences and sly legal maneuvers from Pemberton’s defense team. A transgender investigative journalist, Meredith Talusan, who determines to bring international attention to the case, writing sharp, in-the-fray essays for VICE, The Guardian and Buzzfeed. And Jennifer’s normally reserved mother, Julita, who finds herself at the affective center of a political uprising, inciting fellow protesters with a tenacious voice she never knew existed.
A modern David and Goliath story, Call Her Ganda follows a cast of willful women as they take on some of the most powerful institutions in the world. Fusing personal tragedy, human rights activism and the little known history, and complex aftermath, of U.S. imperial rule in the Philippines, Call Her Ganda forges a visually daring and profoundly humanistic geopolitical investigative exposé.
Friday, September 21st, 2:30pm: Q&A with director PJ Raval, hosted by SAGE.
Saturday, September 22nd, 7:00pm: Q&A with director PJ Raval, moderated by Dailisha Eve Rodriguez (founder and executive director of Hey There Beautiful).
Tuesday, September 25th, 7:00pm: Azreal Dean Martinez (Regional Coordinator of BAYAN-NE), January Bacus (Cultural Chair for the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines), and Glenn Ramirez (Outreach Development Chair for the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines) of ICHRP (International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines).
Wednesday, September 26th, 7:00pm: Q&A with Sasha Alexander and Olympia Perez, hosted by Black Trans Media.
Call Her Ganda was an official selection of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, 2018 San Francisco International LGBTQ Festival, 2018 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Festival and 2018 Hot Docs Film Festival
SAGE is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.
BAYAN resolves to raise the consciousness of, organize and mobilize Filipinos in the U.S., linking their basic issues of rights and welfare to the National Democratic struggle. We resolve to build international solidarity among all peoples in the U.S. along the lines of an anti-imperialist united front.
Black Trans Media exists to shift and reframe the value and worth of black trans people. We seek to amplify and strengthen the voices and experiences of black trans peoples through community/media. We share and connect others and each other to black trans media makers work, we produce our own content about our lives and experiences, and we also host and organize community based events.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines is a global network of organizations outside the Philippines, concerned about the human rights situation in the Philippines and committed to campaign for just and lasting peace in the country.
