Set in the fascinating native New Zealand culture of the Maori, this is the contemporary story of the attempt by a 12-year-old, Pai (Castle-Hughes), to become a Whale Rider, a tribal distinction and position traditionally reserved for males only. Pai is the only living child of the son of her tribe's chief, after her mother and brother die during child birth, with her father fleeing New Zealand altogether. It is a belief of the Whangara people that their entire culture descends from a single ancestor a thousand years ago, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized in the ocean by riding back home on the back of a whale. Ever since, Whangara chiefs (aka the first-born male sons of the previous chief) have been Whale Riders. and so young Pai wants to bring life back into her family by fulfilling her destiny and community, regardless of her gender, to ultimately become the tribal chief as well as Whale Rider.

AGF People's Choice Award, 2002 Toronto International Film Festival; World Cinema Audience Award, 2003 Sundance Film Festival; Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, 2003 San Francisco International Film Festival; Best Film, Best Director, 2003 Seattle International Film Festival; Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes), Best Score, 2003 New Zealand Film Awards; Breakthrough Performance (Keisha Castle-Hughes), 2003 Online Film Critics Society; and Best Younger Actor, Best Composer, 2003 Broadcast Film Critics Association. Best Actress (Castle-Hughes) nomination, 76th Annual Academy Awards.