For the last few years Andreja Pejic has been making waves in the fashion world, gaining headlines for appearing on the catwalk modelling for both male and female clothing lines, known as an androgynous male model who spoke about living in-between genders.

However, underneath this she was dealing with gender dysphoria and this year Andreja revealed that she was now living as a woman and had completed sex reassignment surgery.

What make Pejic’s story all the more remarkable is that she’s come a very long, having spent part of her early life in a Serbian refugee camp to escape the war that was raging in her home country.

Now Andreja and filmmaker Eric hope to turn her story into a documentary, called Andrej(a), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter hoping to raise $200,000 to get the film completed.

On the funding page, Pejic writes, ‘On a snowy winter day in New York City, as I sat in my favorite Thai restaurant eating dinner with my dear friend and filmmaker Eric, along with his wife, I announced awkwardly “Eric, I have to tell you something. It’s intense. I don’t want to involve anyone else, just you. It’s very personal, I’ve told no one in the business, not even my agent. I am going to have SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) in two weeks!”

‘At that point in time I didn’t have a strong desire to share what was about to happen with anyone but a few very close friends, certainly not a camera! Eric’s words changed my view forever.

‘“This is a powerful part of an immensely courageous journey, we need to film this!” Eric said, his eyes beaming with excitement. “Your story is so unique. It has the potential to reach so many and to help millions of young people around the world. You need to do this! You know how many trans people (and people in general) are out there hiding, forced to live as someone they are not. You could give them hope by going public about this.”

‘Eric had filmed me several times before for fashion gigs and other small pieces. If I was going to allow any camera to follow me through the most challenging period of my life, it was his. That is how this documentary was born, and since then it has become one my life’s missions. I ask you, fellow Kickstarters, to join and help me complete the film. I hope that by sharing my humanity, pain, tears, laughter, joy, and biggest struggles on film, it will shed light on what it means to live as a transgender individual. 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.’

Take a look at the funding video below and head over to Kickstarter for more info. [Read more…]