From the PBS website:
BROADCAST PREMIERE OF "WHALE RIDER" THIS SUMMER ON PBS
PBS Presentation Plans to Include Never-Before-Seen "Making of" Footage and
Behind-the-Scenes Stories. WHALE RIDER airs on Sunday, July 24, 2005. Check
local listings.
The award-winning, critically acclaimed WHALE RIDER, a cinematic re-telling
of a Maori legend, comes to PBS in summer 2005. The film stars Keisha
Castle-Hughes as Pai, with three of New Zealand's most distinguished actors:
Rawiri Paratene as Koro, Vicky Haughton as Nanny Flowers and Cliff Curtis as
Porourangi, Pai's father.
Adapted by Niki Caro from the much-loved, best-selling 1986 book by Witi
Ihimaera, the first Maori novelist to be published in New Zealand, WHALE
RIDER was shot entirely in Whangara, a coastal village on the east cost of
New Zealand's North Island. In the film, Pai, a 12-year-old girl, dares to
challenge the ancient traditions of her people, despite opposition from her
grandfather, Koro, chief of their village.
Set in the present, WHALE RIDER re-interprets a 1,000-year-old legend about
Paikea, the founder of the Ngati Konohi, a native tribe of New Zealand. They
believe Paikea arrived in their village on the back of a whale after his
canoe capsized.
Who will become the Ngati Konohi's leader after Koro? By tradition, it
should be the eldest son. A crisis occurs when the hereditary male child
dies at birth, survived by his twin sister, whom their father names Paikea.
The name should be given only to a male, and the fiercely traditional Koro
immediately shortens the girl's name to Pai.
Pai's grieving father leaves her in the care of his parents while he seeks a
different destiny abroad. Pai grows up burdened by the awareness of her
grandfather's sorrow and his disappointment that she lived and her brother
didn't. Strengthened by the unconditional love of Nanny Flowers, her wise
and shrewd grandmother, Pai senses that Koro also cares about her, though
with more restraint.
Why can't a girl enter the pantheon of leaders, Pai wonders? Koro finds the
notion inconceivable. When he despairs of his son's return, he begins
teaching ancestral traditions to the boys of the village, hoping one will
prove worthy to succeed him. Pai is forbidden to participate, but she
watches, secretly, from the sidelines. When her moment comes, she is ready.
It is in Pai's singular quest for her grandfather's love and acceptance that
she discovers her destiny.
Winner of audience awards at the Sundance, Toronto and Rotterdam Film
Festivals, WHALE RIDER is a radiant story about an exceptional girl's coming
of age and of a proud Maori community's struggle to embrace new ways of
thinking. It is presented on PBS by Pacific Islanders in Communications.
Pacific Islanders in Communications funds and distributes film, video and
new media on Pacific Island history, culture and contemporary challenges to
the broadest possible audience, and supports media talent through
scholarships, training and professional development. PIC is a member of the
National Minority Consortia, which collectively addresses the need for
national programming reflective of America's growing ethnic and cultural
diversity. The Consortia receive major funding from the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting.
Mary Ludwick, Librarian K-5 Elementary
Owen Elementary, The Colony, Texas (near Dallas)
ludwickm@lisd.net (school address)
ludwick@swbell.net (home address)
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