Niki Caro

Nikola Jean Caro (born 20 September 1966) is a New Zealand film, television, and music video director and screenwriter.

Caro graduated with a BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1988 and received a Postgraduate Diploma in Film from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Caro first found interest in working with metal sculptures, but later turned her interests toward film.

She did not receive any formal training in the field, but instead began by reading narrative film books and writing rough drafts for scripts.

Caro's mother would type her handwritten drafts after she finished writing each one.

Caro's first experience in directing was when she was hired to create commercials for different companies such as the New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority, Nike and Tower Insurance, but it was only after being signed by a production company to write and direct for the television series, Another Country that she had her first breakthrough.

She did not have any experience in directing, but it felt it was instinctual once she started working with the actors.

Caro's work also includes short films, an award-nominated episode of Kiwi TV series Jackson's Wharf, and a number of music videos — including an award-winning interpretation of Straitjacket Fits single "Bad Note for a Heart" which was later judged Best Music Video at the 1990 New Zealand Music Awards.

Her focus then turned into TV dramas after producer Owen Hughes invited her to contribute to a trilogy of half-hour TV dramas in 1992.

The Summer the Queen Came, which was contributed by Caro, earned three nominations at the 1994 NZ Film and Television Awards.

Notably, Caro's other works: Sure To Rise and Lemming Aid were selected to compete at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Caro's earlier works were intentionally depicting women's search for life goals, relationships, and desires.

Along with her productions of television dramas, she also has developed pursue in documentary fields, including her short film Old Bastards (1994) and Footage (1996).

Caro's first feature film, Memory & Desire, was meant to be a showcase of New Zealand's culture and lifestyle (aligning with the start of the 100% Pure New Zealand tourism campaign by the New Zealand tourism section of the government), but it fell short; seeing disappointing results at the box office and mixed international reviews.

This was especially true in Japan, where the film was deemed to have not captured the essence of Japanese culture, despite its attempts to evoke money and consult from possible Japanese investors.

The film is meant to use landscapes to juxtapose the characters and their origins.

The calm and relaxed outdoor setting of New Zealand is meant to oppose the hustle and bustle of the big, busy city of Tokyo.

It works twofold because the contrast also works for the comparison of the "civilized" parts of New Zealand against the wild outdoors, showing off the two different sections of the country in an effort to advertise to multiple groups of people considering visiting the country.

The tourism board looked to use landscapes as the most enticing factor in a tourist's eyes, along with people, adventure and culture.

The film shows evidence of this by implying that Keiji and Sayo are unable to consummate their marriage anywhere but in the outdoors due to Keiji being unable to achieve an erection in an urban setting, emphasizing the "natural" state of humanism of being connected to the surrounding landscapes.

Along the couple's trip they encounter different New Zealand tourist hotspots such as; the Museum of Technology and Rotorua's spa pools on the West Coast Beach.

It is also in contrast of the bland hotel rooms that the couple stay in; as if to say that the only time they are truly free is when they are outside in nature, specifically New Zealand's nature.

Her acclaimed drama Plain Tastes was about a middle-class woman searching for the ultimate happiness and love and was nominated for "Best Television Drama" and "Best Writer" at the 1996 NZ Film and Television Awards.

It was chosen for Critics' Week at Cannes week in 1998.

In 1999 the film was voted best new film at the New Zealand Film Awards.

Caro went on to write and direct Whale Rider, which is about a Māori girl that has to stand up against her grandfather and the other men in the tribe to show she can be as much of a leader as the boys who were being trained to be leaders.

This film is the reproduction of the book "Whale Rider", while according to the author Witi Ihimaera, this book is the one "that the Māori community accepts best, and a response to the Katherine Mansfield centenary celebrations which rewrites her stories from a Māori perspective."

However, in order to strengthen her idea on women development and bringing out women's position in the society, Niki Caro intelligently modified this retelling of a Maori legend.

Caro argues that Whale Rider is more about leadership than sexism because the Māori are also profoundly matriarchal.

Caro says there is a Māori saying that "women lead from behind".

She directed thirteen-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes to a performance nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

The film had a budget of $2 million, which is considered small for a major film, but it was still considered to be a good interpretation of the indigenous story that it was trying to interpret and demonstrate.

Whale Rider would also go on to become New Zealand's most financially successful film and either the film, or Caro herself, would win or be nominated for over 50 different awards by different, international film festivals.

Her 2002 film Whale Rider was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals.

With the success of Whale Rider under her belt, Caro was chosen to direct her first Hollywood film, North Country (2005), starring Charlize Theron.

[article] This is another story of a female being told things she couldn't manage due to gender stereotypes.

She directed the 2020 live action version of Disney's Mulan, making her the second female and the second New Zealand director hired by Disney to direct a film budgeted at over $100 million.

Caro's works ranged from music videos, commercials, television dramas, and films, etc.

Caro was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

She attended Kadimah College, Auckland, then Diocesan School for Girls, where she received an alumni award.