Co-directors Shane King & Arne Johnson recently released GIRLS ROCK: The Movie, chronicling the lives of girls 8 to 18 at an all-girls rock ‘n’ roll camp in Portland, Or.
The film follows the lives of Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed with death metal who thinks that “starting a band is cooler then having a boyfriend in a band”; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness, and gang activity; Amelia, the Sonic Youth influenced eight-year-old guitar pro with a super rock ego; and Palace, a 7-going-on-17 vox queen who’s imaged obsessed to the point of becoming sick and stressed out.
These girls and their fellow campers have a week to form a band, learn an instrument, write a song, and perform it in front of their camp friends and family, learning new skills from rock-girl volunteers lik Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney and Beth Ditto from The Gossip.
The girls also attend various workshops throughout the week teaching them everything from self-defense to having a positive body image.
It’s compelling documentary story-telling at it’s finest with everything from band break-ups to band triumps, finding self-flaws to finding self-exceptance. Although the film focuses on the positive aspects of good old fashioned Girl Power, it still manages to thread heavy yet familiar growing-up issues facing girls today like voluneraability, rejection, and negative body issues.
Obviously we’re HUGE fans of this movie. So much so that we’re planning on volunteering at a local girls rock camp this summer (stay tuned). It’s a film that all mother’s should watch with their daughters, all music teachers should watch with their students, and all women should watch in general, regardless with your relationship status to the musical community may be.
Girls Rock is available now on DVD. Visit www.GirlsRockDVD.com for more info.
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