hot docs: girls rock!

the world premiere of arne johnson and shane king’s girls rock! was the best screening i attended at hot docs. the film is about a rock n’ roll camp for girls aged eight to eighteen. while at this week-long camp, the girls must choose an instrument (that they may never have played) and form a band with other campers. at the end of the week, all of the bands perform for a large crowd. the film focuses on several campers and follows their progression through learning to play instruments to resolving conflicts with other band members. along with learning to play music, the girls take lessons in self-defense and discuss body image issues as well as pressures they face at school and home. a lot of emphasis is placed on the idea of girls not being afraid to be loud and to express themselves. we witness many of the girls undergo transformations when they lose their initial inhibitions and allow themselves to play loudly, make mistakes, and get sweaty. one of the camp leaders mentions the ways in which girls are taught to be small and quiet in this culture while boys are allowed to be loud, take up space, and get dirty. part of the focus of the camp is working to undo these behaviours in the girls, by providing a space that they feel comfortable and encouraged in. one of the most profound realizations that some of the campers reach is discovering that they are happy with themselves; a quality lacking from many of them when they begin the week. i felt that this documentary worked really well because the girls they interviewed and followed for the week were all very endearing in their own ways and the film approached the difficult subject of teenage girls’ self-confidence through the guise of a music camp, while still addressing a full spectrum of individuals and struggles.