Whale Rider (2003)
7.1
/10 By 390 Votes
Overview : 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.
Release Date : January 30, 2003
Runtime : 101m
Companies : South Pacific Pictures, Pandora Film, ApolloMedia, New Zealand Film Production Fund, New Zealand Film Commission, NZ on Air, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
Countries : Germany, New Zealand
Keywords : diving, becoming an adult, grandparent grandchild relationship, tradition, loss of loved one, ocean, whale, empowerment, new zealand, maori tradition, chief, modern society, canoe, patriarch, stick fighting, patriarchy, magic realism, woman director, swimming underwater, war dance, traditional dance
Cast
