Whale Rider
- Wed, Jul 2
Please select a showtime button above to buy tickets.
*Limited Walk-Up shows no longer have online tickets for sale. A limited number of tickets will be available at the box office 45 minutes before a show's start time, on a first-come first-served basis. Standby tickets will be available when Walk-Ups are sold out.
Director: Niki Caro Run Time: 101 min. Format: Digital Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 2003
Starring: Cliff Curtis, Grant Roa, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton
Screenwriter: Niki Caro from the novel by Witi Ihimaera
Producers: John Barnett, Frank Hübner, Tim Sanders
The coming-of-age arthouse smash hit from director Niki Caro!
The Whangara people believe their ancestor Paikea was saved from drowning by riding home on the back of a whale. The tribal group has since granted leadership positions to first-born males, believing them to be Paikea descendants. The village is in crisis when the leadership heir dies at birth, survived only by twin sister Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes). Shunned by her village, Pai summons the strength to challenge centuries of tradition to fulfill her destiny. An early-2000s arthouse smash hit from director Niki Caro (Mulan), Whale Rider won Toronto International Film Festival’s World Cinema audience award before enrapturing worldwide audiences and garnering preteen lead Castle-Hughes an Oscar nod for Best Actress.
“So many films by and about teenagers are mired in vulgarity and stupidity; this one, like its heroine, dares to dream.”
— Roger Ebert
Movie Den is a community initiative generously supported by MUBI and Golden Globe Foundation.
All tickets come with a free small popcorn. Please enter through the video store. Doors will open 45 minutes before showtime.
If online tickets are no longer available HAVE NO FEAR, we will ALWAYS have walk-ups available starting 45 minutes before showtime (which give you plenty of time for free popcorn and a browse of the video store)!
This series was designed for audience members 12 and up, please note some films may contain more mature content than others. We encourage parents, caretakers, and guardians to explore the program and titles prior to ticket purchases. We will include MPAA ratings for all films in this series. Parental discretion is advised.