A documentary about a rock 'n' roll camp for girls ages 8-18 could have been cutesy or condescending. Instead, it's the best film of the new year, a funny, wise and inspiring ode to spirits set free. And it rocks.

Among the 80 campers who form bands, write songs and perform them for an audience, all in a five-day period, are some vivid young people including:

— Palace, a precocious 8-year-old who emerges from her shell to shriek a lyric about burning down San Francisco so her mother can't go there on business trips;

— The equally young Amelia, who invents her own guitar chords for space jams about her pet Chihuahua;

— Laura, 15, who feels like an outcast because she loves death metal and because she's a Korean who was adopted by a white couple from Oklahoma;

— And Misty, 16, whose drug-addicted parents surrendered her to a series of foster homes, where she reigned as a bully before channeling her anger into soccer and hip-hop.

The annual camp near Portland, Ore., is run by veterans of the indie-rock revolution, including a member of the riot-grrrl band Sleater-Kinney.

But these cool, confident young women teach their pupils more than just chords and counting the beat. For the girls, the touchingly awkward process of sniffing out kindred spirits and starting a band becomes an ice breaker and opens the door to teacher-led workshops on self-defense, assertiveness, body image and conflict resolution.

Because so many feelings bubble up in the creative ferment, "Girls Rock!" is an unusually insightful documentary about growing up. The battle-tested teachers are astute about the pressures on girls from their peers, their parents, sexually aggressive males and the media, while directors Arne Johnson and Shane King provide context with ironic old film clips and cuttingly presented statistics.

All this drama has a cathartic payoff, as 700 visitors pack an auditorium to hear the kids perform their songs, which range from folk to funk to punk.

The beauty of the Rock 'N' Roll Camp for Girls is that individual identities are enabled to take wing, whether they are butterflies or banshees.

(Screens at 8 p.m. tonight through Sunday, and again on Tuesday, in Moore Auditorium at Webster University, 470 East Lockwood Avenue. 314-968-7487.)

joewilliams@post-dispatch.com

314-340-8344