The Village People

Keisha Castle-Hughes is running on fumes. For the past two months, the enchanting 13-year-old star of Whale Rider has been riding out a tidal wave of publicity, parties, and premieres all over the world. From Whangara, New Zealand, where the story unfolds, to Washington, D.C., the film has left its mark, winning audience awards at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals: Sundance, Toronto, and Rotterdam, to name a few.

Written and directed by Niki Caro from the novel by Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider is the story of a young girl, Paikea (Castle-Hughes), who dares to challenge the ancient Maori beliefs held by her grandfather, Koro (Rawiri Paratene), the tribal chief. Determined to anoint the next leader in the patrimonial line, Koro has no use for a granddaughter when she is born. But true to her namesake, who arrived on the island centuries earlier on the back of a whale, Pai proves that not only is she a capable leader—she’s a spiritual force, the stuff of legends.

On a rainy Saturday in June, I meet with Castle-Hughes, Paratene, and Cliff Curtis, who plays Pai’s father, at the Dylan Hotel in midtown Manhattan. With its ultramodern decor and glossy bar and lounge, the Dylan couldn’t seem farther away from the wispy coastal village of Whangara. No breaking waves or sheer skies here, although wandering through the lobby does feel a bit like walking on the inside of a glow-stick. Wearing a white hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, Castle-Hughes emerges first, followed by Paratene, and Curtis, sporting a Dillard University baseball cap.

Here, they talk about visiting New York, the resurgence of Maori culture in New Zealand, and how sometimes it takes a village to make a movie.

PREMIERE: I read that a casting agent went to your school and found you—is that true?

Keisha Castle-Hughes: Yeah, she came to my primary school, and then just looked around; we didn’t know who she was. And then she just asked me if I was Maori, if I could swim, and if I could ride a bike. I was intimidated by her, and I couldn’t swim, but I still said yes.
In the film, the Maori language is only spoken during sacred ceremonies. Why is that?

Rawiri Paratene: There’s a real revival that’s been happening for some time in terms of the language and the culture. There are training schools all over the country that teach weaponry skills, and also a huge movement of Maori culture groups called kapa haka. Up until the 1960s and ’70s, the indigenous issues were dealt with by government policies that concentrated on Maori homogeneity and integration. Which not only the government but also elders embraced for the idea of suppressing and sort of preparing for a world where a lot of their ways didn’t seem to fit in.

So in a sense they were trying to protect themselves—they wanted to repress themselves so that an outsider couldn’t. But it’s still very detrimental to the culture.

Cliff Curtis: Yeah, and basically it didn’t work. So [until] the ’70s, traditions had been seen as a hindrance. But then people started to say, “Well, maybe this is a resource.” And then Maori schools and universities developed. And the martial arts and kapa haka—those were seen as sort of a fun way for us to learn . . .

RP: Histories, genealogies.
CC: You know, basic self-discipline.