POV on PBS to Premiere Documentary CALL HER GANDA

When 26-year old Filipina transgender woman 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.

Directed by PJ Raval, Call Her Ganda has its national broadcast debut on the PBS documentary series POV and pov.org on Monday, July 1 at 10 p.m. (check local listings). The film is a co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and American Documentary | POV. POV is American television's longest-running independent documentary series now in its 32nd season.

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, labors to reveal the truth of Jennifer's death from inside the courtroom, despite strategic silences and sly legal maneuvers from Pemberton's defense team.

A transgender investigative journalist, Meredith Talusan, is determined 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, rallies 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.

"Call Her Ganda takes us beyond the investigative details of Jennifer's murder and places it in context of a legacy of Western colonialism," said Chris White, executive producer for POV. "It shows us that the deep-rooted pain behind the activism of the Filipino LGBTQ+ community carries with it historical implications that carry into today. This is a fearless film highlighting the activists' courage in fighting for justice for Jennifer."