LAFF ‘08 INTERVIEW | “Trinidad” Co-Directors Jay Hodges and PJ Raval

What was the inspiration for this film?

PJ and Jay: We actually first learned about Trinidad at a friend’s dinner party, from a woman who had just passed through this small town in Colorado that was known as “the sex change capital of the world.” She said it was a town filled with cowboys and transsexuals, that it had lots of women’s clothing stores that carried things like size 12 pumps, and that it was a place where people arrived men and left women. We along with everyone at the table just couldn’t believe this was true. We assumed sex change operations occurred in larger metropolitan areas but small town America? Colorado? So the image of Trinidad stuck with us for several days. Eventually we did a little research and ended up calling Marci Bowers who was the new surgeon doing the surgey.  She agreed to talk to us more, suggesting we do it face to face in Trinidad. That became our first step towards making this documentary.

Please elaborate on your approach to making the film…

PJ and Jay: There are a lot of films that look at transgender issues but only focus on the physical aspects of “before and after”.  And though there are aspects of that in “Trinidad,” we didn’t want to sensationalize the experiences of these three women. We wanted to look at who they were as individuals in this small town and their everyday concerns, things like acceptance, sense of self, and the need to be who you are - challenges everyone faces.  Ultimately we wanted people to see aspects of themselves in Marci, Sabrina, and Laura.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in making the film?

PJ and Jay: It can be really challenging shooting a film in a town that you don’t live in. It’s not as easy as just picking up the camera and running across town - you have to really plan for it and especially in a documentary where the story is unfolding you might find yourself one morning waking up, on the phone with one of the characters in your film, then suddenly having to jump on a plane to meet them that evening. We ended up spreading out the shooting over two and a half years and this worked to our advantage. During that time we formed great friendships with Marci, Sabrina and Laura, the three women in our film. They really opened up to us and let us into their lives. As their lives moved forward our story unfolded. It made for a much more intimate film.

What are your goals for the Los Angeles Film Festival?

PJ and Jay: “Trinidad” has been roughly four years in the making. We’re really excited to finally share the film with an audience. Everyone has the need to express who they are, and hope the world accepts it. We hope audiences can walk away from “Trinidad” with a new confidence. As Sabrina so eloquently states, “When people look at me I hope they think, ‘If she has the guts to be who she is, then I should have the guts to be who I am.’”

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