The documentary shows how many of these young girls are from rural, poor backgrounds, and Nadyal's optimism about rescuing her family from financial hardship through modelling is a common theme among young girls who cling to the promise of a profitable career. It highlights an unregulated industry that relies on a labor force of children - children who often work unchaperoned far away from home. Sara Ziff, a model and founder of The Model Alliance, told MailOnline that 'Girl Model does not present the modeling industry in a glamorous light. His decision defied industry guidelines from the CFDA which forbid the use of models under the age of 16. The documentary premiere at SXSW last week follows recent controversy surrounding Marc Jacobs's most recent show, which saw him use 14-year-old models on the catwalk. 'Fashion overwhelmingly favors malleable, adolescent girls - not women with the life experience and strength to demand fair treatment' 'All of the things depicted in the film - contracts that aren't honored, agency debt, and the pressure to drop out of school - are things that do happen to models, including very young models, in the industry today,' she continued. She explained: ' namely the extreme youth of many of the girls when they begin their careers, and the financial asymmetries between the models and the powerful brands, agencies, and magazines they end up working for. Jenna Sauers, a former model, fashion writer for Jezebel and member of The Model Alliance, told MailOnline she believes Girl Model accurately spotlights important issues in the industry. Those involved in the modelling industry also agree that the documentary was an accurate representation of the problems which widely hinder the ability for models to have a fulfilling career like any other. Sandra Ann Lauer was born in the German town of Saarbrücken, close to the French border.Girl Model filmmaker, David Redmon said: 'The problem is when 12-15 year old girls are placed inside a marketplace of adults that sexualizes them and treats them as disposable goods, there’s an infinite potential for the situation to go awry.' Her father, Robert Lauer, who owned a wine store in Saarbrücken, is French and her mother, Karin ( née Eltern), who worked in a shoe store, is German. She also had an older brother, Gaston, a paraplegic who died in 1995. Sandra showed an early interest in music and dancing, starting to learn classical ballet at the age of 5, which she would continue for ten years, and receiving guitar lessons when she was 10 years old. In 1975, at the age of thirteen, Sandra went with her mother to see Young Star Festival, a Saarbrücken talent competition. She was only a member of the audience, but when all participants had finished performing and the jury was discussing the results, Sandra walked onto the stage, persuaded the DJ to put on the German version of a song made famous by Olivia Newton-John and started singing. The impromptu performance gained considerable recognition and led to the release of her first single, which was a children's song about a pet dog, 'Andy mein Freund'. The single, however, performed poorly on charts at that time dominated by disco mania. Sandra won international success in 1985 with a song '(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena', which topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide and reached top 10 in further five. Her first album, The Long Play (1985), reached number 12 in her home country of Germany and was a top 10 success in Scandinavia. The follow-up single, 'In the Heat of the Night', continued her international success, reaching number two in Germany and top 10 positions in many European countries.
The song also earned Sandra second place at the Tokyo Music Festival in 1986. 'Little Girl' became the third single from the album in 1986, with the music video filmed in Venice, but met with moderate success.
Shortly after the release of The Long Play, Sandra moved to London for six months, where she worked with singing instructor Helena Shelen and took drumming lessons to practice her timing. She also joined a language school, where she worked on her English skills, while she spent weekends in Munich recording new songs. Sandra and Michael married in January 1988 and relocated from Munich to the Spanish island Ibiza to work on what would be Sandra's third studio album. Into a Secret Land moved from electro-pop to more sophisticated areas of pop, what was showcased by the first single, 'Heaven Can Wait', a top 20 European hit.