
            The film's plot follows the story of Paikea Apirana ("Pai")[In the book, her name is Kahu, short for Kahutia Te Rangi], a 12-year-old girl who is the only living child in the line of the tribe's chiefly succession following the death of her twin brother and mother when she was born. By tradition, the leader should be the first-born son a direct patrilineal descendant of Paikea, aka Kahutia Te Rangi in the book, the Whale Rider he who rode on top of a whale from Hawaiki. However, Pai is female and technically cannot inherit the leadership.Pai's koro, Apirana, or Old Paka as his wife Nanny Flowers calls him, the leader of the tribe, is initially angry at losing his grandson and being left with a "worthless" female. While he does later form an affectionate bond with his granddaughter, carrying her to school every day on his bicycle, he also resents her and blames her for many of the troubles facing the tribe. At one point Paikea decides to leave with her father because her grandfather is mistreating her. However she finds that she cannot bear to leave the sea as the whale seems to be calling her back, tells her father to turn the car back and returns home. Pai's father refuses to assume traditional leadership; instead he moves to Germany to pursue a career as an artist. Pai herself is interested in the leadership, learning traditional songs and dances, but is given little encouragement by her grandfather. Pai feels that she can become the leader, although there's no precedent for a woman to do so, and is determined to succeed.Koro decides to form a cultural school for the village boys, hoping to find a new leader. He teaches the boys to use a taiaha (fighting stick). This is traditionally reserved for males. However, Nanny tells Pai that her second son, Pai's uncle, had won a taiaha tournament in his youth while he was still slim, so Pai secretly learns from him. She also secretly follows Koro's lessons. One of the students, Hemi, is also sympathetic towards her, but Koro is enraged when he finds out, particularly when she wins her taiaha fight against Hemi. Koro's relationship with Pai erodes further when none of the boys succeed at the traditional task of recovering the rei puta (whale tooth) that he threw into the ocean this mission would prove one of them worthy of becoming leader.Pai, in an attempt to bridge the rift that has formed, invites Koro to be her guest of honour at a concert of Mori chants that her school is putting on. Unknown to all, she had won an inter-school speech contest with a touching dedication to Koro and the traditions of the village. However, Koro was late, and as he was walking to the school, he notices that numerous right whales are beached near Pai's home. The entire village attempts to coax and drag them back into the water, but all efforts prove unsuccessful; even a tractor doesn't help because the rope breaks. Koro sees it as a sign of his failure and despairs further. He admonishes Pai against touching the largest whale because "she has done enough damage" with her presumption. Also, the largest whale traditionally belongs to the legendary Paikea. But when Koro walks away, she climbs onto the back of the largest whale and coaxes it to re-enter the ocean. The whale leads the entire pod back into the sea; Paikea nearly drowns in the process. When she goes out to sea, Nanny Flowers shows Koro the whale tooth which Pai had previously recovered. When Pai is found and brought to the hospital, Koro declares her the leader and asks her forgiveness. The film ends with the village, including Pai's father, uncle, and grandparents, celebrating her status as leader, as the finished waka is hauled into the sea for its maiden voyage.
    

Whale Rider


            
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Roadies


            This is a conflation of the stories of the birth of Jesus found in biblical accounts by Matthew and Luke. Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) lives in the small town of Nazareth. She's still young enough to play with the other children of the town, although she must also work to help her poor family get by. The people of the town can barely pay the king's taxes. When one of their neighbors loses his daughter to involuntary servitude to pay off a tax debt, Mary is forced into a betrothal by her parents to Joseph (Oscar Isaac), a young homebuilder who has had his eye on Mary. They're told they must not consummate the marriage for a year. Mary's not happy with the arrangement. She barely knows Joseph; she certainly does not love him.But then an angel (Alexander Siddig) appears to Mary, telling her she's been chosen by God to bear the Son of God, who will save their people. She's told her cousin Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who's ostensibly too old to have children, is already pregnant, which is proof God can do anything. Mary agrees to the angel's request, and then travels to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the wife of Zechariah (Stanley Townsend), a priest who was told in the temple his aged wife would conceive and bear a son, who was to be named John. Zechariah didn't believe it, so he lost his ability to speak. When Mary shows up, Elizabeth seems to know all about Mary's impending pregnancy, saying her own child leapt in her womb. Mary tells Elizabeth she's scared, since the law requires she remain pure. She thinks nobody will believe she's kept her vows. Elizabeth comforts her, telling her to trust God.Mary stays until Elizabeth's child is born. Zechariah gets his voice back when he insists the boy be named John. Mary, who is now pregnant, decides she had better return home.When she comes back noticeably pregnant, however, the whole town is scandalized, and Joseph is broken hearted. Mary's parents can't believe Mary; they fear she might have been raped by one of Herod's soldiers. They tell her she could be put to death for violating her vows. Joseph agrees not to press charges, but he's upset and bitter. The town shuns Mary. But then Joseph sees the same angel in a dream who tells him Mary's telling the truth, and so he takes her back, which now makes him an outcast in the town, too. Meanwhile, evil King Herod (Ciarán Hinds) is worried about a prophecy of a new king who will be a Messiah for his people. He thinks some usurper may make political use of the prophecy to start an uprising. He decides to take advantage of Caesar's desire for a census to make everyone return to his ancestral home. Since the Messiah is to come from David's lineage, Herod thinks he can trap the pretender in Bethlehem, the City of David. Joseph is a descendant of David, so Herod's order also forces Joseph to go to Bethlehem. Mary agrees to go with him, so they undertake an arduous journey, during which Mary comes to see Joseph as a good, self-sacrificing man. Affection and trust grows between them. At about the same time, three magi in Persia, who have also been studying prophecy, decide to travel to Judea because the alignment of a star with two planets tells them a new king will be born there. They load up some camels and take off across the desert. At a stopover in Jerusalem, they tell Herod the Messiah king will not be a grown man, but a little baby. Herod pretends he wants to pay homage to the new king, too, and asks them to return with directions once they've located him. After they leave, Herod hatches a terrible idea. He decides he can put an end to the people's hope in the prophecy by killing all the babies in Bethlehem. Just as Mary and Joseph reach Bethlehem, Mary starts contractions. Joseph runs around looking for a place for her delivery, but all that's offered is a stable. Just as she gives birth, the three celestial bodies line up, and a shaft of light falls on the stable. Following the advice of the angel, some shepherds show up to see, including one who showed kindness to Mary and Joseph earlier. Mary tells him her baby is born for all mankind. The shepherds are followed by the magi. The magi present their gifts of gold for the king of kings, frankincense for the priest of priests, and myrrh for the one who must sacrifice. After they leave, Mary and Joseph go to sleep, but then Herod's soldiers begin their terrible infanticide. Just in the nick of time, the angel's voice warns Joseph. So, as the soldiers start slaughtering the innocents, Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus are already out of town, heading for Egypt.
    

The Nativity Story


            Aspiring amateur boxing trainer, Amirah Al Amir has idolised her world champion father Sami her entire life. When she negotiates a professional debut match for her boxer Jess, Sami is furious. He doesn't believe Amirah or Jess are ready for professional fighting, and wants more for his daughter than a life inside a boxing gym. When Jess is caught against the ropes in a challenging round, Sami intervenes and a public argument between father and daughter results in Sami punching a Fight Official.In a humiliating fall from grace, Sami loses his trainer's licence, pending a tribunal. Forced to choose between her fighters and her family, Amirah starts her own women's only boxing gym. With high overheads and promoters refusing to support female boxers, Amirah starts training male mixed martial arts fighter Lachlan O'Leary to keep her gym afloat. Amirah is torn when their professional relationship shifts into romance; Lachlan couldn't be more wrong for her. Or more right. However when Jess is seriously injured during a fight, Amirah begins questioning her future in this brutal sport.Furious that at the tribunal Sami blames his daughter Amirah for his actions, she challenges him to a face to face in the ring; trainer against trainer; father against daughter. Lachlan will fight Amirah's brother Hayder in an edge-of-seat climactic match that pits Amirah's skill as a trainer against her father's.Over the series Amirah falls into an impossible romance, builds a pack of female fighters, destroys her relationship with her parents, and claims the greatest victory of all - her independence.
Set in Sydney's western suburbs, On The Ropes is about empowerment, love, the resilience of families, and, above all, fighting for what you believe in. A sexy and gritty drama that is fast-paced and full of heart, encompassing truth, transfor- mation and the courage to fight the right fight, the right way. Especially when life has you on the ropes.
    

Keisha Castle-Hughes

Keisha Castle-Hughes Movies or Tv Shows (upto Nov 2024) - Watch Online

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