The supermodel made headlines earlier this summer when she came out as transgender. Now, she's ready to share her story with the world.
September 09 2014 12:45 PM EST
February 05 2015 9:27 PM EST
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Since she was a child growing up under her single mother in a Serbian refugee camp, Andreja Pejic's biggest dream was to live her life as a woman. The supermodel, who recently made waves when she came out to the world as a trans woman, had been living for years acting as if she were simply an androgynous man in order to please her agents, the press, and her family. To the media, her unique looks were seen as special for a boy, but she feared that if she were to transition, she would become lost among the pack due to anti-trans sentiment in the fashion industry, likening the current lack of opportunities trans models face to that of black models twenty years ago.
But in her own time, she had secretly been seeking physical transition, and when she told her friend, photographer and filmmaker Eric Miclette, about her sexual reassignment surgery, he made a tempting proposition to her: he would film her coming out tale. Originally only intending to tell a few close friends, Andreja was intrigued by the premise. Though she was afraid of telling the world of her trans status, when Eric reminded her of the difficulties trans people face today -- unemployment, poverty, suicide, social distrust, and abandonment from loved ones -- and how she could give hope to trans people around the world by going public about her identity, she agreed.
"Eric had filmed me several times before for fashion gigs and other small pieces," Andreja said. "If I was going to allow any camera to follow me through the most challenging period of my life, it was his." The two began work on a documentary, Andrej(a), which was meant to capture some of the biggest milestones in her life, including her last photoshoots as an androgynous boy, her experience with sexual reassignment surgery, her announcement of her trans status to the world, and emotional encounters with her mother.
Now, the two have turned to Kickstarter to finish the documentary and focus on perhaps the most important milestone of all -- Andreja's life after transition. The two hope to film her story as she discovers how her trans identity will affect her career and public image, how the fashion industry will respond to her trans status, and how her personal relationships will be affected by this revelation. The duo is asking for $200,000, about $250,000 less than the average budget for a festival bound documentary, with which they will license photographs and music, acquire post production equipment and personnel, purchase gear and insurance, create graphics, and provide for travel as the crew and Andreja journey around the world on work and to visit her homelands.
Once the documentary is complete, they plan to bring the film to the festival circuit and use its buzz to acquire a distributor for a wider release. Andreja wrote "I have always believed that differences between people should not equal divisions and I simply want to create something that could help build a bridge between my community and the rest of the world."
Those interested in contributing to the project may learn more and do so on the documentary's Kickstarter page.
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