Pure Grit is a thrilling tale of extreme bareback horse racing, and an intimate love story chronicling three years in the life of a young Native American woman on the Wind River Reservation in Northern Wyoming. Sharmaine, a former horse racing champion, left the track a year ago when her sister was paralysed in a racing accident. Now she wants to start afresh with her new girlfriend Savannah and they leave the reservation in search of work in Commerce City, Denver… but racing still courses through her veins.

Kim Bartley’s observational documentary provides an unflinching picture of life on a reservation and an inspirational portrait of a young woman who holds on to her dream despite a life of gruelling hardship.

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn