Whale Rider

"One young girl dared to confront the past, change the present and determine the future."

If you want to learn more about NZ culture, particularly Maori culture, I recommend you watch this film. It gives you a glimpse of Maori society here in NZ. The film is low-budget without all the Hollywood fru fru and even though it is a simple story, it is very well told and the actors gave compelling performances especially Keisha Castle-Hughes who played Pai, who Darwin say has a very strong stage presence.

Basically, the film is about a young girl who has to fulfill her destiny and in the process, fight her grandfather and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill it.

My only gripe about this film is that it would have been better if there were English subtitles on the Maori chants/songs so people could have a better understanding on what they mean. But overall, it was a moving and beautiful film. The ending was also... not quite what you expect I guess.

The film was released in 2002 and has been nominated and won lots of awards.

Watch the trailer: