Becoming Colleen: Finding the Shoe that Fits is a compelling documentary about a remarkable 85 year Australian transgender woman who is about to move to a Christian retirement village where she fears that they will insist she dresses as a man.

Having lived most of her life as Colin – a husband, father, policeman, projectionist and self-declared shoe fetishist, Colleen has had to negotiate her gender transition later in life.

Her story really starts when she first came out to her late wife Heather who totally supported her transition from Colin to  Colleen.  Heather encouraged her to dress up in her shoes and skirts and at dusk they would take to the deserted streets of the small conservative town of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.  The film takes its title from the fact that Colleen always takes such joy at finding the perfect pair of shoes.

Documentarian Ian W.Thomson’s film, which just won the Audience Award at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival this weekend, portrays this disarmingly charming woman who is an exceptional role model for both her generation and for younger ones too.

Here’s the trailer of the film which will hopefully now start surfacing in other Film Festivals around the globe.