Who's in It: Carrie Brownstein, Beth Ditto
The Basics: It appears that the idea of women in rock bands is still one that gives lots of men the nervous chills, because otherwise, the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls wouldn't need to exist. But exist it does, and this documentary spends a week there with girls aged 8 to 18, all of whom will spend their time learning to play in a band, defend themselves and tap into their inner grrrl power.
What's the Deal? There's nothing in this that any women's studies major couldn't spit out in five minutes of post-class chat. But seeing those philosophies hit the road and have traction is very cool indeed. The camp itself is the logical outcome of feminist ideals put to practical use in the service of giving young (sometimes very young) women a chance to be themselves without fear of reprisal. And if it sometimes seems like a 90-minute commercial for the camp, then that's just because everything looks so great there.
OK, Not Everything: The barrage of onscreen statistics about how girls come to hate themselves by the time they reach adulthood is kind of a bummer. And there's one cringe-inducing moment when it comes time for the girls to pick bandmembers based on what genre of rock they like the most. A 15-year-old Korean-American girl from Oklahoma City who's into metal gets left out in the cold for a bit before settling for a non-metal band. In fact, lots of the girls seem lost during that moment because suddenly everything feels like the most nightmarish P.E. team-picking experience you could witness.
Strangest Accomplishment: It's the rare movie I see — documentary, no less — with a 10-year-old protagonist with whom I find myself identifying. But when the little girl who loves Sonic Youth discusses her love for guitar feedback and noise, I was like, Yeah, me too! So that was weird.
Cool Counselors: If you send your daughters to this camp, they'll be shepherded around by actual indie rock stars like the women from Sleater-Kinney and the Gossip, not just some hippies with guitars.