Whale Rider

October 16, 2007
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Intercultural & Diversity Center
240 Student Union

"One young girl dared to confront the past, change the present and determine the future." "Whale Rider" is a contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize. 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. Featuring Keisha Castle-Hughes. Run time: 101 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief language and a momentary drug reference.