Whale Rider (30/01/2003)
Synopsis
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
Production
South Pacific Pictures, Pandora Film, ApolloMedia, New Zealand Film Production Fund, New Zealand Film Commission, NZ on Air, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
Pays de production
Germany, New Zealand
Genres
Drama, Family
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Rawiri Paratene
Vicky Haughton
Cliff Curtis
Grant Roa
Rachel House