Riley Keough & Gina Gammell’s Coming-of-Age Film ‘War Pony’ Trailer
by Alex Billington
April 6, 2023
Source: YouTube
“Don’t bring no drama into my teepee, okay?” Picturehouse in the UK has revealed the first UK trailer for the coming-of-age indie film about Native Americans and their authentic experiences titled War Pony. The film marks the feature directorial debut for both Riley Keough & Gina Gammell, and it first premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Stunning, tender and utterly compelling, War Pony tells the interlocking stories of two Oglala Lakota men coming of age on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It’s a powerful tale of life, hope and belonging on the reservation. Featuring spellbinding performances from first-time actors Jojo Bapteise Whiting and LaDainian Crazy Thunder, and created over a period of several years, in collaboration with real members of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The cast also includes Wilma Colhof, Jeremy Corbin Cottier, Woodrow Lone Elk, and Sprague Hollander. The film played at numerous festivals last year and received mixed reviews. One review states that it “sometimes feels as aimless as moments in the lives of the characters it depicts, but that helps give it the intimacy of a story told from the inside, not the outside.”
Here’s the first UK trailer (+ poster) for Riley Keough & Gina Gammell’s War Pony, direct from YouTube:
At 23, Bill (newcomer Jojo Bapteise Whiting) desperately wants to make something of himself. Whether syphoning gas, delivering goods or breeding Poodles, he’s determined to carve his way to the “American Dream” somehow. Meanwhile, the 12-year-old Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder) can’t wait to become a man. Desperate for approval from his young, unavailable father, a series of destructive decisions turns Matho’s life upside down and he finds himself unequipped to deal with the harsh realities of the adult world. War Pony is co-directed by the filmmakers Riley Keough (co-producer on Dixieland, producer on Welcome the Stranger and Manodrome) and Gina Gammell (a producer on Welcome the Stranger and Manodrome), both making their directorial debuts with this. The screenplay is written by Franklin Sioux Bob and Bill Reddy & Gina Gammell, along with Riley Keough. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year in the Un Certain Regard section, and it also just played at SXSW 2023. Picturehouse will debut War Pony in select UK cinemas starting June 9th, 2023 this summer. No US release date is set.
