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Whale Rider
Movie poster for Whale Rider
Directed by	Niki Caro
Produced by	John Barnett Frank Hübner Tim Sanders
Written by	Witi Ihimaera (novel) Niki Caro (movie)
Starring	Keisha Castle-Hughes Rawiri Paratene Vicky Haughton Cliff Curtis
Music by	Lisa Gerrard
Distributed by	Newmarket Films (USA)
Release date(s)	January 30, 2003 (New Zealand) July 4, 2003 (USA)
Running time	101 min.
Language	English/Māori
Budget	NZD 6,000,000 (est.)
IMDb profile

Whale Rider is a 2002 movie directed by Niki Caro, based on the 1987 novel "The Whale Rider" by New Zealand Māori author Witi Ihimaera. The world premiere was on September 9, 2002, at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The movie's plot follows the story of Paikea Apirana ("Pai") at the age of 12 who is the only living child in the line of the tribe's chiefly succession because of the death of her twin brother and mother during childbirth. By tradition, the leader should be the first-born son — a direct patrilineal descendant of Paikea, the one who rode atop a whale from Hawaiki. However, Pai is female.

Pai's grandfather Koro Apirana, or Old Paka as his wife Nanny Flowers calls him, the leader of the tribe, is initially angry about her birth. While he later forms an affectionate bond with his granddaughter, carrying her to school every day on his bicycle, he also resents her and blames her for many of the troubles facing the tribe. At one point Pai decides to leave with her father because her grandfather is mistreating her. She finds that she cannot bear to leave the sea and returns home. Pai's father has refused to assume leadership; instead he has moved to Germany to pursue a career as an artist. Pai herself shows an interest, learning traditional songs and dances, but is given little encouragement from her grandfather. Pai feels that even though she is a girl she can still become the leader, which is shown through her determination.

Koro decides to form a cultural school for the village boys, hoping to find a new leader. Pai, aided by her uncle and one of the students, Hemi, secretly follows the lessons and learns to use a taiaha (fighting stick), something traditionally reserved only for males. Her grandfather is enraged when he finds out. His relationship with Pai erodes further when none of the boys prove worthy of the title of leader - failing to recover Koro's whale tooth from the ocean.

Pai, in an attempt to bridge the rift that has formed, invites Koro to a concert of Māori chants that her school is putting on, as her guest of honor. However, as he is preparing to leave, he notices that numerous right whales are beached near Pai's home. The entire village attempts to coax and drag them back into the water, but all efforts prove unsuccessful. Koro sees it as a sign of failure and despairs further. He admonishes Pai against touching the creatures, but when he walks away, she climbs onto the back of the largest whale and coaxes it to re-enter the ocean. Riding on the back of the whale, she leads the entire pod back into the sea, nearly drowning in the process. When she goes out to sea, Nanny Flower (Koro's wife and Pai's grandmother) shows Koro the whale tooth which Pai was able to recover. When Pai is found and brought to the hospital, Koro begs for her forgiveness. The film ends with the village, including Pai's father, uncle and grandparents, celebrating her status as leader.

While the plot of the book is basically the same, it pays less attention specifically to Pai/Koro, and mainly focuses from a perspective of narration by Pai's uncle. It clearly expresses the deep resentment felt by her grandfather, and Pai's longing to gain his respect as a rift opens between them.

Produced by South Pacific Pictures, on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island, the movie has received highly favourable praise from international critics and audiences and won a number of international film-festival awards, including:

• the Toronto International Film Festival's AGF Peoples Choice award in September 2002
• the World Cinema Audience award at the January 2003 Sundance Film Festival in the United States
• the Canal Plus Award at the January 2003 Rotterdam Film Festival.

Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, becoming the youngest actress ever nominated for the award. She was 13 years old at the time.

• Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea Apirana
• Rawiri Paratene as Koro Apirana
• Vicky Haughton as Nanny Flowers
• Cliff Curtis as Porourangi

• New Zealand literature
• New Zealand cinema
• List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Whale Rider

• Official site
• Whale Rider at the Internet Movie Database
• Review at The New Zealand Herald
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