War Pony + short - Film at The Share Centre
Venue: The Share Centre | 88 Stow Hill, Newport, NP20 4DW
Date: 07/08/2026
Doors: 18:00 Close: 22:00
Entry: Free
Set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, War Pony follows two young Oglala Lakota people whose lives gradually cross.
Bill is 23, a young father searching for ways to earn money, support his children and build a better future. Matho is 12, restless and vulnerable, trying to prove himself while being pushed towards adulthood far too soon. Through their parallel stories, the film explores what it means to belong to a family, a community, a tribe and a country that does not always seem to value you.
Raw, moving and full of life, War Pony looks honestly at poverty, masculinity, identity and limited opportunities, while also showing friendship, humour, culture and imagination. It may speak particularly strongly to young people who understand the pressure to make something happen for themselves without being given a clear path forward.
For young filmmakers, the film is also an inspiring example of collaborative storytelling. Co-directors Riley Keough and Gina Gammell developed the project over several years alongside members of the Pine Ridge community, working with local first-time actors to create a film that feels immediate and deeply connected to the people and place it portrays.
Winner of the 2022 Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for best first feature, War Pony asks us to look beyond stereotypes and listen to young people whose experiences are often ignored, judged too quickly or told by somebody else.
WAR PONY
Directed by Riley Keough and Gina Gammell
USA, 2022 | Approximately 115 minutes | Certificate 15
English
Age rating: 15 (BBFC)
Content guidance: Strong language, drug misuse, domestic abuse and violence.
Listen to the directors discuss the making of the film:
SHORT FILM: CONFORMITY
Before War Pony, we will screen Conformity, a short film by local filmmaker Pierre Simon.
Trapped in a mundane job and alienated by the people around him, Michael turns to art as a form of escape from his environment.
Through voice over and visual storytelling, Conformity explores isolation, creativity and the pressure to follow a life that has already been decided for us.
CONFORMITY
Created by Pierre Simon
UK, 2024
Running time: 5 minutes
Age guidance: PG
Pierre Simon will attend the screening and introduce the film. Pierre is a filmmaker and photographer whose work focuses on art, culture and community.
Discover more of Pierre's work:
Although the two films come from very different places, both explore young people attempting to find their own direction within environments that offer them limited choices.
War Pony looks at belonging, survival and opportunity through the experiences of Bill and Matho. Conformity explores how creativity can become a way of resisting isolation and imagining another kind of life.
Together, the films invite us to think about identity, opportunity and the importance of being able to tell our own stories.
After the screenings, there will be an informal audience conversation about the films, their characters and the questions they raise.
Provisional Spaces Available: 17