New Year Honours: Niki Caro's honour a reflection of a NZ success

By JULIET ROWAN

Niki Caro believes the way New Zealand embraced Whale Rider, her film about a little girl fighting to fulfil her destiny, has a lot to do with her appearance on the New Years Honours list.

"I think it's indicative of how much Whale Rider has crept into the New Zealand consciousness, and I'm so proud to be part of creating that," said the 37-year-old screenwriter and director.

Ms Caro, who has been recognised in the honours list for her services to the film industry, said she was just one of a team involved in bringing what has become one of New Zealand's most successful cinematic endeavours to the big screen.

The 2002 film has won numerous awards, including best film and prizes in eight other categories at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards this month.

It was best feature film at the British Academy Children's Film and Television Awards and is being hailed as an Oscar contender for next year.

Adapted from a story by Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider has been a hit with audiences around the world.

It has made more than $50 million at the box office.

It is not the first time Ms Caro's work has achieved international success.

Her 1996 documentary, Footage, was a finalist at the Venice Film Festival and her first feature film, Memory and Desire, received the Critics Week Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

It also won the prize for film at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards.

Despite her long list of prizes, Ms Caro said she is "thrilled and very, very honoured" to be on the honours list this New Year.

Speaking before the list was made public, she said she had followed instructions to keep the award a secret and had not told her family.

She expected they would "explode with joy" at the news of her honour.

Ms Caro is currently working on a screen adaptation of Elizabeth Knox's novel The Vintner's Luck.

After spending 10 years working on adapting and filming Whale Rider, she is reluctant to say when the project will be completed.

She knows the process can be "as long as a piece of string".