Soldier Girls

First-time film-maker Vanessa Stockley, a National Film School Graduate, lived with the cadets at Sandhurst for 6 weeks, joining them on their ten mile marches and travelling with them for battle simulations in Wales and France.

The result is a raw and intimate portrait of two women from very different backgrounds as they face the final hurdles of their officer training, before being sent to Afghanistan.

Sandhurst is one of the most elite military academies in the world. Women have been allowed to train there since 1984, but are still outnumbered 10-1 by their male counterparts. The regime is uncompromisingly tough and few concessions are made for being a woman. On a 10 mile march through difficult terrain, the girls are made to carry two-thirds of their bodyweight on their backs.

During a 2-week battle simulation in France, the girls sleep outside in dug-out trenches even though the temperature is minus 3 degrees, and they are only allowed a couple of hours sleep each. They are trained to use rifles and bayonets – the nature of modern warfare means that there is no clear front line and women must be as prepared to shoot and kill as men.