Andreja Pejic is gathering steam.
The trans supermodel, who spent years on men's and women's runways functioning under the description "androgynous," recently came out as a transgender female (and changed her name to boot).
"I have always believed that differences between people should not equal divisions," Pejic says on her Kickstarter page. "I simply want to create something that could help build a bridge between my community and the rest of the world."
Now, Pejic is creating a documentary about her experience going from a young boy to a grown, famous supermodel woman. And, in the video above, she's asking for your help in telling her story.
Andrej(a) is a feature-length documentary tracing androgynous trans supermodel Andreja Pejic’s journey from the Serbian refugee camps of her childhood to the glamorous life of international fame and fashion she now leads. Her rise to popularity past is remarkable: her ability to successfully navigate two such disparate worlds while silently struggling with gender dysphoria is even more so. In the summer of 2014, Andreja came out as a trans woman, and her life will never be the same. She’s crossed into unprecedented territory, and as she learns to navigate her post-op life and career, we’ll be along for the ride.
Since she was a young child being raised by a single mother in a refugee camp in the Balkans, Andreja has had to hide her deepest wish, “to live life as a woman”. The justifications for that decision during her youth were many - war, a broken family, poverty - but as her fame skyrocketed, the pressures to remain a boy grew right along with it. New York Magazine’s infamous cover “The Prettiest Boy In The World” sealed the deal. If she wanted to remain a success, she had to remain a boy. Her agents said it. The press said it. The world expected it. Most importantly, her family relied on it.
Now, Andreja has reached a major turning point. For the majority of her life, she has had to live in between the two genders. However her unique career, looks, and position between two fashion worlds could not mask her lifelong struggle with gender dysphoria. Behind closed doors, Andreja could no longer bear to pose, walk, or live as the person people expected her to be – an androgynous boy.
When taken in social context, Andreja’s early decisions to hide are not surprising. In today’s world, the transgender community remains one of the most disadvantaged social minorities globally. Unemployment rates for trans men and women stand at twice the national average, as do poverty rates. Attempted suicide rates are one of the highest out of any other community. Furthermore, there is a deep social distrust that can make the simplest of tasks, even just going to the grocery store or seeing a movie, extremely challenging. Publicly claiming one’s truth as a transgender individual often means the loss of family, friends, careers, relationships, and, in far to many cases, lives. It is no wonder that being trans is rarely, if ever, associated with success.
In the world of fashion, prospects are little better. The industry is no stranger to discrimination. Like everywhere else, transgender individuals are rarely treated with respect. Trans models lack the same opportunities as their cisgendered peers. The situation can be compared to the experience of African-American models, two decades ago.
Through Andreja’s life story, Andrej(a) will explore gender politics in-depth around the globe, and the beauty industry and its attitude towards diversity, will be a focal point. From a refugee camp in the Balkans to the world’s biggest runways, from boyhood to androgyny to womanhood, from hiding to the highest level of self-acceptance this documentary captures an individual whose biggest dream is to live an authentic, happy and normal life. To be accepted and respected as the person she has always known herself to be. It is a public struggle by a brave person for the most basic of human needs.
