“I’m trying to save all these girls” is how Tigran, the owner of a Russian modeling agency, describes, in a fatherly way, the process of picking thirteen-year-old girls and, through a network of scouts, shipping them from Siberia to Japan for ostensibly modeling work and success.
The documentary Girl Model, by filmmakers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, which I saw earlier today at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a stirring portrait of the journey undertaken by one such thirteen-year-old, Nadya Vall, and the woman who initially scouted her, a former model named Ashley Arbaugh from Connecticut.
We discover that Siberian girls, lacking knowledge in English or Japanese, may arrive in Tokyo without anyone to pick them up, any manager to guide them or translate for them, and essentially need to fend for themselves in tiny apartments. They sign contracts they can’t possibly understand, and often aren’t paid. They are made to lie about their age, and often do not get picked for work due to their youthful appearance. They become homesick quickly.
The startling inference from Girl Model is that, while these young girls are sent to be photographed in magazines, the reality – well known to the agencies – is that “they get placed at other places,” meaning they become prostitutes.
Ashley, in her scouting, seems conflicted with this reality. This film is, in a way, her confession without an apology, because like Nadya, she too is stuck in a cycle. As much as Ashley declares she is not passionate about the business of modeling – which is obsessed with youth – she doesn’t hide her fascination of Tigran, who we discern used to work in the military and killed many people. Tigran confides that his modeling business is actually a “religious experience” for him, a way to build a positive future for these girls, perhaps make amends for his past transgressions.
The film provoked many questions for me, and I think that was the intended effect. I wanted to know how Nadya was doing, given that the film was shot over a three-year period; apparently she is still modeling in China, though the filmmakers do not have contact with her at present. The Q-and-A session at the film’s conclusion provided some colourful commentary, including an assertion that Ashley Arbaugh is treading a fine line between booking work for models and actually being a pimp, because the promised success in Japan often did not materialize, and her declaration to the parents of prospective models that “Every model has success in Japan; they never end up in debt” is juxtaposed with Madlen, another thirteen-year-old who was sent home because her waist increased by two centimeters; moreover, she had accumulated an astonishing $2,000 in debt to the modeling agency. An audience member declared the scout’s actions as “unconscionable.”
Girl Model reminded me that for every star, there are a multitude of individuals who never make it, are forgotten, and end up, as the film intimates, exploiting their bodies because their physical beauty is the only attribute they know how to sell.
One of the film’s models, Rachel Blais, participated in the Q-and-A session, and said, “Hopefully this film will bring awareness.” She noted that in the United Kingdom, there is now a fledgling union organization attempting to bring greater rights to models. But will a modeling union really take off in certain parts of Asia known for poor records on human rights? I left the AMC theatre wondering what I could do to help. And yet, how do we help this kind of situation when in North America we glamorize reality TV shows which are the direct result of fame emanating from a sex tape? Heck, we just published a celebrity profile on the Kardashians. I feel so torn after watching Girl Model, a truly epic documentary.
To all of our readers and fans who are caught in the dream of becoming actors and models, I hope you uncover this article and watch Girl Model, because the risks of this transcendent career need to be properly understood.
Nice review! I really wanted to see this.