"There's so many different layers that created Toni that you see today." Follow Toni William's retelling of her life journey in this new short documentary directed by internationally-recognized photographer Chloe Aftel. Toni, a transgender woman who discovered her true self in the 1970s, narrates her individual evolution while showing off a fabulous sense of style and recounting amusing anecdotes; all details that are simultaneously juxtaposed with the U.S.'s overarching current political landscape, which is further contextualized by facts related to LGBTQ+ communities. From leaving home at age fourteen and residing in San Francisco's famous Tenderloin neighborhood, now encompassing the world's first legally recognized transgender district, to time spent in California's Vacaville Prison, Toni's experiences weave a rich tapestry of one woman's life, struggles, and triumphs. As a young woman helping her friends turned certified Peer Specialist working in the trans community, Toni's message rings out clear: "I am a better person because I am true to myself."

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Chloe Aftel has spent her career working in commercial photography, photojournalism, and film. She’s an established name in modern photography with work featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Playboy, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Germany, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, and more. Aftel has photographed victims of sexual violence, reported on COVID 19's impact on the trans community, and gained access as the first reporter in COVID wards of the West Coast’s hardest-hit hospitals. She has covered underground abortion providers, the impact of gender pronouns on daily life, and clergy abuse. Aftel's first book, 'Outside & In Between,' is an award-winning anthology covering gender non-conforming people across the United States.