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Three out of Five stars
Running time: 78 mins

The business of modelling is exposed as little more than human trafficking in this small but absorbing documentary which exposes the exportation and exploitation of young girls from Siberia to Japan, from the viewpoints of one vulnerable outsider and one trapped insider.

What’s it all about?
The documentary takes us to sub-zero Siberia, where queues upon queues of teenage girls wait to be measured and photographed with the hope that they might escape to Japan to become models. The focus falls on 13 year old Nadya, a blonde farmer’s daughter, with a pre-pubescent look that Japanese agency Switch hanker after.

However, the situation is not quite as promised when Nadya arrives: her contract can be terminated if her waist increases by just one cm and there is no support or money (she has been promised $8,000 for two jobs) forthcoming. Juxtaposed against this flagrant exploitation is scout Ashley, an American ex-model who supplies the production line with new faces - and who is becoming increasingly unhappy with her role. Meanwhile, Ashley's shady boss insists that they are acting in the girls' best interests.

The Good
It's not difficult to expose the strange, cruel world of the modelling industry, and this documentary doesn't reveal anything new - that unscrupulous agencies routinely feed upon young, vulnerable girls with dreams of cash and catwalks - but it does put a human face on the exploitation. The scenes following Nadya as she arrives in Tokyo with no money, no guardian, no knowledge of Japanese or English, just the misguided belief that guaranteed work will solve her family's financial troubles, are without a doubt the most affecting.

There is no glamour in this film; a low-key observational approach, keeps judgement and hard-hitting shock tactics at arms length. The most unsavoury aspects of the business are left to fester, such as when Ashley, when asked why her boss spends so much money importing girls that often don't get any work, admits that he “just really likes models.” The fact that he has christened himself Messiah also speaks volumes.

The Bad
The weakest segments are those that linger on Ashley herself, who is becoming increasingly disillusioned with having to fulfil the Japanese market's desire for ever more youthful girls. However, too much time is spent illustrating her sad, lonely life and there is also a reliance on rather clunky visual juxtapositions, highlighting the obvious disparity between Nadya and Ashley's living situations. The somewhat pedestrian cinematography does have its moments though, particularly when the camera lingers on awkward instances such as Nadya limping in high heels or excruciating scenes of eight year old girls parading about on catwalks in backwater Siberia.

Worth Seeing?
Girl Model is a sad and at times thoughtful exploration of the modeling industry – but one that occasionally verges on the lightweight side.