Viewing List Response 2: POV Podcast: “Girl Model”

P.O.V. is a PBS podcast that interviews documentary filmmakers about their creations. This particular episode interviewed the creators of Girl Model, a doc that follows a young Russian girl into the world of international fashion modeling. Instead of a world full of promised glamour and riches, she finds herself trying to negotiate dangerously worded contracts and situations where she can’t even understand what is being said. Her story is just one aspect of a larger narrative that explores the danger of an unregulated and often exploitative industry.                

The podcast itself was pretty useful. I felt like I got a good idea of what Girl Model was about without actually having watched it. The podcast did not tell everything about the film, however, but instead  encouraged me to watch the feature when it aired on PBS sometime after the podcast.

Most interesting were the filmmaker’s comments about when to intervene in their subject’s lives and when to sit back and watch. It sounds like a relationship of trust was most important to gaining access to particular scenes,  and an open discussion of what things and even days should or should not be filmed out of respect for the subject. They also discussed that how in trying to avoid conclusions or easy solutions in the end of their film they hoped viewers would question how they themselves were responsible for the exploitation of these young girls, and what they might do about it in response.  I found the podcast useful and think I am interested in watching the documentary as a result.