Girl Model
Director Ashley Sabin, David Redmon
Countries United States
Duration 77 min
Synopsis
Despite a lack of obvious similarities between Siberia and Tokyo, a thriving model industry connects these distant regions. GIRL MODEL follows two protagonists involved in this industry: Ashley, a deeply ambivalent model scout who scours the Siberian countryside looking for fresh faces to send to the ja market, and one of her discoveries, Nadya, a thirteen year-old plucked from the Siberian countryside and dropped into the center of Tokyo with promises of a profitable career. After Ashleys initial discovery of Nadya, the two rarely meet again, but their stories are inextricably bound. As Nadyas optimism about rescuing her family from their financial difficulties grows, her dreams contrast against Ashleys more jaded outlook about the industrys corrosive influence.
Funded by:
Cinereach
Puffin Foundation
Fledgling Fund
Sundance Institute
Harvard Radcliffe Institute and Film and Environmental Studies
Airing on POV and CBC September 2012