After bursting onto the international stage in 1994 with the electric Once Were Warriors, Lee Tamahori spent a couple of decades making Hollywood movies (Die Another Day and Along Came a Spider, among others). But now he's back on home turf and it shows: his adaptation of Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera's classic novel is awash in local detail. It's the 1960s and two proud Maori families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, are rivals in the sheep-shearing business and enemies stretching back generations. The Mahanas are led by their strict grandfather Tamihana (Warriors lead Temuera Morrison), but it's 14-year-old Simeon (Akuhata Keefe) and his growing defiance of both family tradition-personified by Tamihana-and the (white) establishment that serve as the focus here. The result is a compelling coming-of-age story set in a fascinating milieu.

"Plays like a classic Western as it proudly expands the still-limited canon of essential films about New Zealand's tribal people... A sincere homage to his homeland, [the film] blends incredible cultural specificity with Tamahori's internationally accessible storytelling style..." Peter Debruge, Variety