Girl Model is a 2011 documentary film following Ashley, a conflicted model scout recruiting young Siberian girls to model in Japan.

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 Japanese market, and one of her discoveries, Nadya, a thirteen year-old girl plucked from the Siberian countryside and dropped into the centre of Tokyo with promises of a profitable career. After Ashley s initial discovery of Nadya, the two rarely meet again, but their stories are inextricably bound. As Nadya s optimisn about rescuing her family from their financial difficulties grows, her dreams contract against Ashley s more jaded outlook about the industry s corrosive influence.

Girl Model Reviews

“It deserves to be shown to teenagers, not necessarily as a warning, but at least as an eye-opener: This is how it works, kids. And it ain't pretty.” The Playlist

“The documentary makes you wonder about every beautiful woman who's ever stared out from a publication, poster, or billboard, looking sophisticated and self-assured.” Slant Magazine

“Girl Model shows that even though some models make big bucks, the global economy remains the same as it ever was: Those with nothing are seduced by the prospect of something, such that they hesitate to complain, lest they end up with less than nothing.” The AV Club

“The radiant sadness of its two subjects – one a soulfully impassive stripling, one a symmetrical husk – forms the center of Girl Model, and that is enough.” Village Voice

“A powerful documentary that, with a wider scope and a bit more shaping, could have been even more powerful, perhaps unbearably so. What's there is strong enough.” Village Voice