Chronicling three years in the life of a young Native American woman, Pure Grit is a thrilling and intimate tale of extreme bareback horse racing, young love and hope when all seems lost.

Produced by Rachel Lysaght for Underground Films in association with Frontline Films. With the support of Screen Ireland.

Filmed & directed by Kim Bartley

Edited by Paul Mullen

Exec producers: Taylor Sheridan, Daryl R Begay, Elizabeth Bell, Spiral pictures, Geraldine East, Patricia Planck, Stephen Kelliher, Sophie Green.

Score by Kevin Murphy & Stephen Shannon with tracks by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, A Tribe Called Red, Lankum, The Mysterines and Peter Broderick.

October 2021

The Irish Times

‘ A beautiful, moving documentary … perfectly soundtracked. ‘

Screen Daily Review with Nikki Baughan

‘ A poignant study of the challenges and triumphs of lives lived on the fringes. ’

Fanboy Nation Article

‘ The landscape of Wyoming becomes apart of the narrative ’

PURE GRIT tickets to Denver Film Festival followed by Q&A with Sharmaine, director Kim Bartley and Sharmain’s ex-girlfriend Savannah - Fri 12th Nov 4.15pm

Tickets available here

In this compelling new series for RTE, actor, activist and Traveller John Connors mentors a group of young people from disadvantaged and marginalised communities through an intensive and unique Acting Academy.

In this series, presented by John Connors, a group of 18-24 year-olds, who dream of being actors get to kick-start that dream by attending an intensive, residential Acting Academy. They will be mentored by John and a list of well-known names who have excelled in their craft. Actors, directors and writers will lead workshops and prepare them for real-life auditions.

This is a three part documentary series commissioned by RTE with support of the BAI.

The Irish Times

‘ cheerful and heartfelt new reality series ’

Irish Examiner

‘John Connors' Acting Academy opens doors in acting for people from a variety of backgrounds’

Independent Review

‘ Connors makes a perfect guide through this unfamiliar new world ‘

We spent a year at the extraordinary “Cork Life Centre” an alternative education centre for teenagers who didn’t fit into the mainstream education system. This two part documentary series aired on April 13th and 20th on Virgin Media One.

Made with the support of the BAI.

WATCH now on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/461789323

Director & DOP: Kim Bartley

Producer: Aoife Kavanagh

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Second shooting directors: Megan Murphy & Katie Lincoln

Editor: Janice Toomey

Post: Windmill Lane

Composer: Kevin Whyms

A very personal and honest look at what it’s like to be a traveller in Ireland today from actor John Connors- best known for his portrayal of Patrick the pipe bomb maker in the multi award wining cult TV drama series Love/ Hate. This very personal documentary takes us on a journey to tackle the truth about the way travellers are seen by others, and questions why the prejudice towards travellers is the "last acceptable form of racism in Ireland".

RTE, 2016.

Filmed, Produced and Directed by Kim Bartley.

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Editor: Janice Toomey

I Am Traveller - The Irish Times

AWARDS - Nominated for Best Documentary IFTAs 2016

Even though Irish people are becoming more open to talking about mental health, most conversations centre on depression and anxiety, with conditions like schizophrenia remaining taboo. In this documentary, 6 young Irish people living with schizophrenia allow us to see how, in their own ways, they are managing the condition and taking control rather than letting it control them. They do this by showing us their daily lives, struggles and triumphs while living with schizophrenia.

RTE 2017.

‘'Schizophrenia, The Voices is My Head ‘ was nominated for Best Single Documentary in the 2018 Celtic Media Festival and Best Documentary of the Year 2017 by The Irish Times. Along with receiving an IFTA nomination in 2018.

Filmed & directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh, 

Additional Camera: Eleanor Bowman, John Moore

Sound: Colm O’Meara.

Editor: Paul Mullen

Schizophrenia- The Voices In My Head - The Sunday Times

“A quietly groundbreaking documentary which laid out the realities of the condition with rare clarity and eloquent candour (…) Most mental-health documentaries are better at eliciting sympathy than empathy. The Voices In My Head, by contrast, was a skilfully immersive experience.”

AWARDS - Nominated for Best Director & Best Factual Documentary, IFTAs 2018.

This is a powerful, engaging and emotional, character driven documentary looking at Ireland’s losing war on drugs through the eyes of Anne Buckley, a gutsy and engaging survivor of heroin addiction. Anne spent 17 years addicted to heroin and methadone. Today she’s a determined young woman and student of journalism who is willing tell her story with great insight and honesty. Her journey has taken her from the stairwells of Fatima, through life on the streets, prison, attempted suicide and detox to where she is today- a college student, 5 years clean, rebuilding her life and relationships one step at a time.

TV3, 2017.

Filmed & directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh

Additional Camera: Megan Murphy, Ross Bartley, Patrick McDermott.

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Editor: Paul Mullen

My War on Drugs, TV3 / January 2018 – Irish Times interview with Anne Buckley.

The John Delaney Story is an intriguing account of the unravelling of the FAI and the spectacular demise of the man who had once been hailed as its saviour.

Producer Aoife Kavanagh

Director Kim Bartley

Editor Paul Mullen

Illustrations/ graphics Peter Strain

RTE, November 2020.

29-year-old Philly McMahon is an All-Star Dublin footballer and 3-times All-Ireland winner from Ballymun. Five years ago, John, the big brother he idolised, died after a long battle with heroin and methadone addiction.

How do two brothers end up taking such different paths in life?

Structured around a deeply personal and devastatingly honest interview, this documentary is a personal exploration of addiction, mental health, loss and the power of self-belief from a sporting hero and role model from Ballymun.

RTE, 2018.

Filmed & directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh

Additional Camera: Brian Moore, Eleanor Bowman, Mick O’ Rourke, Joe Edwards, Brian Moore, Alex Sapienza, Megan Murphy

Sound: Colm O’Meara, Mick Cassidy, Niall Creaven

Editor: Paul Mullen

The Hardest Hit, RTE / October 2018 - Irish Times review

The Girl On The Undercard tells the remarkable story of Drogheda’s ‘Dangerous’ Deirdre Gogarty. At a time when women’s boxing was banned in Ireland, she rose to become the champion of the world. 

In 1996, she fought the American champion Christy Martin on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno fight - in a bout that would become the stuff of boxing legend. The record 30 million viewers worldwide who tuned in that night were captivated by the bloody curtain raiser and Tyson himself raved about the quality of the contest. The sport previously labelled “Foxy Boxing’ had finally received the recognition and respect it deserved. 

Deirdre Gogarty was a true trailblazer of Irish sport. In Hollywood,her fight with Martin inspired the Oscar- winning movie, Million Dollar Baby and in Wicklow, Ireland it inspired a little girl called Katie Taylor to dream of following in Deirdre’s footsteps. 

Girl On The Undercard is the incredible story of an unlikely champion who battled, not just against opponents inside the ring, but against prejudice outside the ring. 

A Frontline Films & Loose Horse co-production for Setanta Television, made with the support of Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, 2012.

Filmed and Directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Cormac Hargaden, Loose Horse

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Editor: Paul Mullen

Girl On The Undercard - The Irish Independent

“Kim Bartley’s film, Girl on the Undercard (RTE2), was an absorbing profile of an Irish woman boxer who, in Taylor’s words, “paved the way for the likes of us”. Ten years ago, Bartley made the award-winning The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, an on-the-spot documentary about a failed coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and in its own way her latest film, orginally made for Setanta Sports, was just as vivid and engrossing.”

Love/Hate actor and activist John Connors travels to America exploring the complex issue of race relations. Discrimination is something he has had plenty of personal experience of as a member of the Travelling Community, Ireland’s only indigenous ethnic minority.

Firstly In episode one, John examines the discrimination, poverty and violence faced by African-American communities at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement and police shootings are never far from the headlines. Then In episode two John takes a further look at the reality of life for Native Americans, travelling to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota and discovering many similarities with his own community back home, both the good and the bad.

RTE, 2017

Filmed and Directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh

Sound Colm O’Meara

Editor Paul Mullen

This started out as a the story of Olympic silver medallist John Joe Nevin’s move from amateur to professional boxing. His first professional win was on St Patrick’s day 2014 in Boston. Two weeks later both his legs were broken in an assault. Filmed and directed over a year by Kim Bartley, this turned out to be an extraordinarily challenging time in John Joe’s life. Making and turning this documentary into an the incredible story of his comeback against the odds.

TX RTE Television, 2015.

Filmed, Produced and Directed by Kim Bartley.

Additional Camera: Mick O’Rourke

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Editor: Janice Toomey

John Joe- The Irish Times

Documentary in which former Cork hurler Donal Óg Cusack, the first openly gay GAA sports star, journeys through Ireland, the US and Russia looking at the human rights issues surrounding coming out and living as an out gay person today.

RTE, 2014.

Filmed and directed by Kim Bartley

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh

Sound: Colm O’Meara

Editor: Janice Toomey, Windmill Lane.

Legendary hurler Henry Shefflin presents this documentary about what it takes to be a winner , looking at the mindset of high achievers, as well as the neuroscience of the meaning of success in not just sport, but also business and politics.

RTE, 2016

Filmed & Directed by: Ross Bartley

Producer: Aoife Kavanagh

Sound: Mick Cassidy, Dave Fannin, Colm O’Meara

Additional Camera: John Dunne, Richard Kendrick, Alex Sapienza

Editor: John O’Connor

‘HACKED’ is a documentary authored and presented by journalist Keelin Shanley and in which she looks at the growth of cyber-crime globally and asks if it’s simply impossible to be fully safe and secure on-line?

RTE, 2016 

Directed by Ross Whitaker

Produced by Aoife Kavanagh & Ruth O’ Looney

Filmed by Alex Sapienza

Additional Camera: Ross Whitaker, Raja Nundlall, Tom Curran  

Sound: Colm O’ Meara, Ross Carew, Trevor Cunningham

Editor: Vinnie Berne

In this one-hour authored documentary Dearbhail McDonald, Business Editor with Independent News and Media examines Ireland's 'baby bust'. The documentary explores why as a society we're not having enough children to replace ourselves and what the impact of this will be. Dearbhail also shares part of her own fertility journey - her decision to have her eggs frozen.

Fertility Shock was broadcast on RTE 2019.

Director: Vinny Beirne

Producer: Aoife Kavanagh

Camera: Joe Edwards and Alex Sapienza

Editor: Janice Toomey