Pure Grit: Irish filmmaker takes on tale of Indian relay racer

Kim Bartley's documentary looks at the life of a rare female rider in the sport in South Dakota, writes Esther McCarthy

A scene from Pure Grit. 

Like all the great sports documentaries, Pure Grit is about the desire to win but so much more. The film explores the dramatic world of Indian relay racing, where Native Americans race bareback in teams, embracing their culture in the process. When Irish filmmaker Kim Bartley happened upon a race while in the US for another project, she was instantly hooked.

“It was pure chance as so many of my documentaries are,” she says. “I was actually over in the States filming a different documentary series. We came across the Indian relay racing, which I'd never heard of, and never seen, and it was just mind-blowing.