Run For Your Life

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE confronts a critical gap in how health is understood in Australia – addressing obesity, stigma, shame, mental health (including PTSD, eating disorders and perfectionism), neurodivergence, identity, and First Nations connection to Country, through the lens of a relatable hero.

Training for a marathon is audacious for anyone. But as an obese woman in the public eye, Steph’s shame and fear of failure explore why people avoid the help they need. Leading obesity physician Dr. John Dixon puts it plainly: “Obesity IS a disease, NOT a lifestyle choice… stigma is creating barriers – patients are scared to access doctors for fear of blame and shame.”

Training with Deadly Runners has deepened Steph’s connection to her Yidinji identity, while her journey as a newly queer woman adds another layer to the exploration of identity and self-worth. By prioritising holistic solutions, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE provides practical strategies for tackling obesity from the inside out.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE aims to shift the national conversation on obesity from blame and shame to understanding, empathy and genuine possibility. More than 66% of Australian adults are overweight or obese – but body image affects everyone, regardless of size. By placing a First Nations woman at the centre of this story, the film challenges health narratives that have historically excluded Indigenous voices in the conversation.

The documentary seeks to reduce the stigma preventing Australians from seeking help, promote a holistic understanding of wellbeing that integrates cultural, psychological and community dimensions, and inspire audiences to advocate for their own health.

Through humour and radical honesty, Steph’s journey demonstrates that shame is not a motivator – and that real change begins when we treat ourselves with the compassion we’d offer anyone else. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE aspires to be a cultural touchstone: one that makes audiences laugh, cry, and finally feel seen.

Individual Change: We hope viewers recognise themselves in Steph’s struggle — and feel empowered to seek help, challenge their own shame, and approach their health with greater compassion.

Organisational Change: Through collaboration with health practitioners, universities and Indigenous health leaders, the film legitimises holistic approaches to wellbeing within academic and medical institutions.

Systems Change: With First Nations practitioners as co-creators and primary storytellers, the film advances meaningful representation in the Australian documentary industry, and challenges public health systems to move beyond BMI-focused, stigma-laden messaging.

Steph Tisdell is both subject and key creative force, bringing direct lived connection to the communities at the heart of the story. Spanning obesity, Indigenous identity, queerness and neurodivergence, her experience gives the film authentic access to the issues it explores.
Steph has built an engaged audience of over 137,000 across Facebook and Instagram (March 2026), publicly documenting her health journey. This established trust provides meaningful access to a community already engaged in conversations around health, stigma and wellbeing.
Her training within Indigenous group settings ensures connection to community-based approaches to health, while her openness allows access to a broader cross-section of Australians navigating similar challenges.
Production company Princess Pictures has a proven track record in impact-driven storytelling, ensuring these connections are translated into a film that is both authentic and widely accessible.

Inspires audiences to become their own best health advocates – to seek help, ask questions, and approach their wellbeing without shame.
Encourages audiences to take small steps and build a support network reminding them they are not alone.

Challenges audiences to examine their own assumptions about weight, body image and what “healthy” looks like – and to extend to others the compassion they’d want for themselves.

Directs audiences to organisations and services supporting mental health, obesity medicine and First Nations health, including GP Mental Health Care Plans, Deadly Runners, and culturally safe health services.

Support calls for public health systems to move beyond stigmatising messaging and adopt more holistic approaches to obesity and wellbeing.