Soldier Girls

Portrait of four female recruits during basic training at Fort Gordon, Ga. They’re seen undergoing grueling drills and, in more relaxed moments, in the barracks. Directed by Joan Churchill and Nicholas Broomfield., Though Soldier Girls was the winner of the 1981 British Film Award’s “best documentary” prize, the film’s subject matter is distinctly American in nature. Filmmakers Nicholas Broomfield and Joan Churchill aimed their sights at the military basic-training camp in Fort Gordon, Georgia. Per the title, the film concentrates on a group of female trainees. No quarter is given, no none requested: the women are put through as grueling a training program as the men. Soldier Girls would be an apt companion piece to the similarly themed but highly romanticized Goldie Hawn feature Private Benjamin.