Niki Caro
Niki Caro

You know, when you make something in live-action, you make it real. And when you are inspired by and determined to honor the original - the most original version of the 'Mulan' story - then you have to acknowledge that this is a story about a young woman who disguises herself as a man and goes to war.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

The Maori culture is different than our culture where we're most likely to introduce ourselves by email or fax and we conduct a lot of business in an impersonal way, whereas for Maori, the only way to do it is to make the pilgrimage and sit down face-to-face and have some tea.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

We know, from our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, that our strength comes - female strength - comes in all kinds of forms.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

Whale Rider' was a very authentic and specific movie about the indigenous culture from where I come. Amazingly, by the fact it was so authentic and so specific, it became really powerfully universal.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

The amazing thing about cross-country is that they don't run indoors - I could put them in extraordinary environments. And it's kind of uniquely cinematic in that way, to be able to commit to the screen some things that people don't get to see too often.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

I think a lot of action films, and I'm just saying this as a moviegoer, the default setting on action films seems to be how could it be cooler?

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

I blew up the mine in 'North Country'. It was about a kilometer long. I was so nervous that I'd do it wrong that I closed my eyes when I did it and I missed the shot completely.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

Personally, I have nothing to prove. But I'm tremendously curious about human nature. Female life is so incredibly underexplored in cinema, so these stories feel very exotic.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

Fundamentally, the way I work is exactly the same whether I'm making 'Whale Rider' or 'Mulan'. And those two stories are somewhat similar. They have interesting parallels, and it felt like I'd really come full circle, back to a story of leadership.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

I'm very conscious of what I consider to be the first audience of any movie that I make. It's those people whose reactions I'm most attentive to. They're the ones who will tell me whether I've done my job or not.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

As far as people getting into the industry and creative roles as writers and directors, I would say that technology is on your side, and you can tell their stories very easily.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

It's interesting - the things you remember about Chariots of Fire is the slow running on the beach and the Vangelis music.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

I think about things like the ability to communicate a vision, strength to create an environment where the actors fell very safe and where they can maybe they can work without e protecting themselves they can really stretch. These qualities are neither male nor female.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

There's so many movies, they're just like fast food you consume them and you can't even remember what you just ate. I don't want to make those kinds of movies. I want to make the slow food of movies.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

A film like 'Whale Rider' is equally truthful, perhaps more so, to the Maori experience; Maori people respond to 'Whale Rider' because it's a world that they understand.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

Sense of place is really big for me - as a filmmaker and as an audience member, it's huge.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

Martial arts are inherently both incredibly impressive and incredibly beautiful. And that's my female nature, maybe, and my instinct, to make things beautiful.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

I take particular care in authenticity and specificity when working in cultures not my own. Every aspect of the filmmaking here was meticulously researched, and not just by me but across every department.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

When I made 'Whale Rider' - of course, I'm not Maori and have no business, as a white girl, telling people how to be in this movie - I started by learning the language, as best I could.

Niki Caro
Niki Caro

With every film I've made, 'Whale Rider' included, I've had a vision that was far bigger than the budget allowed.