Niki CaroBirth Place: Wellington, New Zealand Heritage: New Zealand Contact Niki Caro | 
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Whale Rider Background: New Zealand filmmaker Niki Caro attained her international breakthrough with the film adaptation of Witi Ihimaera's novel, “Whale Rider” (2002), which she directed and wrote. The film was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards and nominations at international film festivals. Among the honors that Caro received for the film include Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award for World Cinema, BAFTA's Children's Award for Best Feature Film, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, the Humanitas Prize and the Best Screenplay and Best Director Awards at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards, among others. After the success, she broke into Hollywood with the 2005 well received drama “North Country,” starring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand. Caro reunited with Keisha Castle-Hughes from “Whale Rider” for her latest film, “The Vintner's Luck” (2009). Caro was the recipient of ShoWest Award for International Filmmaker of the Year at the 2004 ShoWest Convention. She was named one of Fade In Magazine's “100 People in Hollywood You Need to Know” in 2005. Caro and her husband Andrew Lister recently welcomed their first child.
Childhood and Family: Niki Caro was born in 1967, in Wellington, New Zealand. She received a BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1988 and then went on to pursue a MFA degree in Film at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. Niki is married to Andrew Lister, an architect.
Career: In 1994, Niki Caro directed and wrote a 13 minute short film called “Sure to Rise,” starring Hester Joyce, Joel Tobeck and Andy Conlan. The film was nominated for Palme d'Or for Best Short at Film at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Four years later, Caro made her feature film debut with the romance/drama “Memory & Desire,” which was adapted from Peter Wells' story, “Of Memory & Desire,” about the ill-fated affair of a Japanese couple on their honeymoon in New Zealand. The film brought her Special Jury Prize from the 1999 New Zealand Film and TV awards and Bronze Horse nomination from the 1998 Stockholm Film Festival. “Memory & Desire” was chosen for Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. Between 2001-2002, Caro directed and wrote episodes of the award winning New Zealand television series “Mercy Peak,” which originally aired on TVNZ from 2001 to 20003. However, Caro did not achieve international recognition until she directed and wrote “Whale Rider” (2002), a film adaptation of Witi Ihimaera's novel of the same name. Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Kahu Paikea Apirana, a 12 year old girl struggling to become the chief of the tribe, the film earned critical acclaim upon its release, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Castle-Hughes' performance. The film also gained another 29 wins and 28 nominations, including, for Caro, the BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film, Children's Jury Award for Live-Action Feature Film or Video from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Cinemanila International Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, Special Award for Best Humanitarian Content from the 2004 Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, New Zealand Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay, Rotterdam International Film Festival's Audience Award, San Francisco International Film Festival 's Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director from the Seattle International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award for World Cinema, the Humanitas Prize for Sundance Film Category, São Paulo International Film Festival's International Jury Award, People's Choice Award from the Toronto International Film Festival, an Online Film Critics Society nomination for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker, a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Screenplay – Adapted, a Chicago Film Critics Association nomination for Most Promising Filmmaker and a Golden Satellite nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay, Adapted. “Whale Rider” has become New Zealand’s most commercially successful movie, playing in Australia, America, Europe, Asia, and South America. In 2005, Caro made her Hollywood directorial debut with “North Country,” whose screenplay, which was written by Michael Seitzman, was inspired by the 2002 book “Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law” by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler. Under her direction, Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand received Academy Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively, in addition to nominations at Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Satellite Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. The cast also included Richard Jenkins, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean, Michelle Monaghan and Jeremy Renner. In 2009, Caro directed, wrote and produced the drama film “The Vintner's Luck,” which is loosely based on the novel of the same title by New Zealander Elizabeth Knox. Starring Vera Farmiga, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Gaspard Ulliel and Jérémie Renier, the film premiered as an Official Selection at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, and has since won multiple awards, including Gold Remi Best Directing and Special Jury Award:for Best Foreign Film at the 44th Annual WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival 2011, and Best Period Film at the 2011 Sedona International Film Festival.
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