Girl Model film release: Interview with Ashley Sabin

The new documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, Girl Model, premieres tomorrow night. The film follows 13-year-old Russian aspiring model Nadya, and modelling scout Ashley, as they try to break into the Japanese market. The directors have made an attempt to remain objective and the film has none of the underhand tactics or filmmaking methods familiar to an expose. Nevertheless, it can’t help but cast a negative eye on an industry that seems to exploit girls as young as 12, who dream of helping their families out of poverty, but instead end up owing modelling agencies thousands of pounds, their self-confidence in tatters. We spoke to director Ashley ahead of the film’s release.

The Hunger: I hear that Ashley approached you to make the film? Did that make you feel apprehensive?

Ashley: Yes, very. Ashley approached us in 2007, having seen two of our films. It’s very difficult to know, when someone brings you a project, what their involvement is going to be in it. We needed to maintain creative control over the end product, that was really important for us. People in the fashion world tend to be really incredibly media savvy, because they’re very aware of how they present themselves. With Ashley, that was really true. You can see it once in a while, she looks at the camera through the corner of her eyes, so the first difficulty was getting her to be completely honest and find that inner truth, as she wanted to talk, but control what she was saying.

Did you find it difficult, especially when you started editing, not to let your opinions of Ashley come across, or did you want them to come across?

It was really hard. That’s why we had two editors to help, because we wanted that fresh take on Ashley and the editors provided it. We tried really hard to separate our own experiences from the final story and trust what the final story would be. The film’s not meant to be slamming the fashion industry or pointing fingers. It’s meant to open up a space for understanding the issues in different ways, not tell you what to think.

What was your opinion on the fashion industry before you started it? Did you have any opinion of it?

I didn’t have much of an opinion on it. It’s something that affects all of our lives pretty deeply because when you watch even down the street, you see billboards, you’re part of the pop culture of fashion, but I wouldn’t have made a film about it unless Ashley had approached us. A difference between before we started the project and now is that I never really noticed fashion advertisements until now, and now I see all the women are girls in those advertisements.

How hard was it not to feel a responsibility towards Nadya, because she’s so young and you must’ve spent quite a lot of time with her?

That was a huge thing for us when we were filming, that we were incredibly sensitive about filming and intervening with Nadya. We’re film makers trying to capture the story in the best way that we can, and there are times that you need to keep the camera rolling but then there were lots of times with Nadya that we put down the camera and helped her. It’s incredibly difficult to see a young girl show up in the airport, not speak the language, with no-one there to pick her up. What do you do, let her struggle for six hours to figure out how to get to the agency? But then we’re active participants in what’s going on. There were two separate films. We could’ve put all that in, and it would’ve clarified a lot, but I think it would take the viewer off the hook, because it says, “Oh well, it’s not that big a deal.” We wanted the story to unravel in the same way that we experienced it, which is that of confusion. We actually returned with Nadya to Japan the second time she went, as we were really surprised at her decision. David and I had a number of raised concerns with the family about what was going on, and when that happened, they put us at a distance and said, “You have to stop asking questions.” She’s still involved in modelling because her parents, mainly her mother, really want to seize that opportunity for Nadya, so our relationship with her is fairly superficial at this point.

One of the things that’s loosely implied within the film is that there is a link with the escorting world. Did you come across that at all?

I think we would’ve been incredibly uncomfortable to film that. We only know what Ashley told us, so what Ashley told us is in the film. I think that that’s where we leave it, in a grey area, because we don’t have that kind of footage. It’s quite a mystery and the audience will go on the same journey that we did, so they can draw their own conclusions.

Did you feel that any of the young girls would be better off modelling than staying at home, from what you saw?

I could understand why they would want to get into it and I hope we conveyed that in the film. It’s interesting because Nadya and Madeline come from very different backgrounds. Nadya comes from a working class family whereas Madeline’s family are much more upper middle class. I wish we could’ve incorporated that into the story because it’s an interesting contrast. It’s not just for the money, it’s something else. I definitely understand why they would want to be a part of that. The concern that I have is once they get into it, it’s a business and all the things that they think they’re going to get when they finally get to Japan don’t exist. That deception is really disturbing to me.

How long were you filming for in total?

We started in 2007 and finished in 2011. There was a lot of research and it took a very long time to edit the story. We had watched a lot of fashion documentaries beforehand and I think the problem with those films is that they are made by insiders, and they glorify it and it perpetuate the glamorous image. So we put people in the house of mirrors and then they can make their own conclusions.

One of the most interesting parts of the film was Ashley herself. What do you think she wanted to get from the film?

That’s a really good question and one I think that she should answer. I don’t really know what she wants an audience to get out of it. I think when she first approached us, she saw this as an opportunity to get out of the industry and share her experiences with an audience. But then at a certain point during the production, she got deeper into the industry, and she now works with a lead model agency in New York, so she didn’t want to tell us much. That push and pull we all see. I don’t know what she wanted out of it. Part of is because she enjoyed the camera on her, the attention it provided her with to be able to share a story. At the same time, there’s a certain amount of guilt that she feels that she’s not completely come to terms with. She speaks out of both sides of her mouth.

Going back to you and David, you’re a couple as well as directing partnership.

Yes, we’re getting married in the summer. We’ve been together the whole time we’ve been making films. We have a really honest relationship with each other. I don’t know if I worked with someone else if I would be able to work in this way. It’s really intense and it takes an incredible amount of energy to edit. There’s a non-verbal communication that we can have when we’re shooting, and the fact that we have different agendas – he’s a male, I’m a female – allows us to open people up, making them feel comfortable, depending on the situation. I do think it will be something we’ll carry on doing with each other. The nice thing about each film that we work on is that one of us always feels more passionate about the subject matter, and so ends up pulling the other person into it, and then that person gets more excited. It’s a back and forth energy. I know a lot of film makers that work by themselves and they say how isolated it can be and hard it is to keep going.

How does it feel when you finish a documentary? Do you feel any relief or guilt at leaving that subject behind?

You do get very close with the people that you’re filming and the situations, but it’s only temporary. You may stay in touch with those people, but the intensity in being around that person is no longer. For me, at first it’s a relief, but then I get morose after each production. The funny thing is, David’s the complete opposite. The reason we’ve made so many films is because he just jumps into the next one; sometimes we’re even working on two films at the same time. My depressions only last for so long because then I get into the next project.

What have you planned for your next project?

Our next project is set in a Serbian factory, it’s about economic renewal in this small town. A lot of people that work there are women over the age of sixty five, so once the factory closed, what will that transition be like. It’s completely different, that’s the great thing about documentaries.

Girl Model is in selected cinemas from Friday 10th February 2012, and on DVD and iTunes from Monday 20th February.

Girl Model on Facebook