Whangara set for Keisha's day in the sun

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Aunty Bumpy's small weather-board house in Whangara on the East Cape is a long way from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Here in the tiny beach settlement 20 minutes from Gisborne where Whale Rider was set and filmed there are no red carpets, famous people or glamorous parties.

But there is a growing sense of excitement and pride.

On Monday, Whangara's 12 permanent residents will crowd into the home of Heni Leach - or Aunty Bumpy as she is known to everyone - and watch their "little Maori girl", Keisha Castle-Hughes, on the world stage at the Academy Awards.

Surrounded by a wall of memorabilia Aunty Bumpy collected from the film, the group will nibble on finger food and nervously wait to see if Keisha wins the best actress award.

Wikitoria Matete, who lives across the road from Aunty Bumpy, her cousin, said she had no doubt Keisha deserved to win the Oscar for her performance as Paikea in Whale Rider.

"But whether she does or not, we are so proud of her."

Keisha might not be from Whangara, but she has been collectively adopted by the people who live there. The locals got to know the 13-year-old from the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes during the three months the movie was filmed in their village.

Keisha, they say, was one of them, a lovely girl who never put on airs or demanded anything.

One of Aunty Bumpy's most treasured items is a drawing by Keisha of a sunrise. This has pride of place on her fridge. "To Aunty Bumpy," it reads, "love Paikea".

Both Mrs Matete, 73, and Aunty Bumpy, 70, were extras in the film. The two women have lived in Whangara all their lives - they married their husbands at a double wedding at Whangara's small brick church in 1949 - but neither woman imagined she would ever be in the movies.

Almost three years have passed since their lives and life in Whangara changed forever.

The moviemakers came to the settlement - a dozen houses, a church, a hall and a marae - with the idea of turning the legend of Whangara's past into a movie.

According to the legend, Whangara was where Paikea landed after riding a whale from Hawaiki 1000 years ago. The legend formed the basis of Witi Ihimaera's novella, which in turn inspired the movie.

At first there was a little unease among the locals that Paikea would be a girl. That was quickly forgotten as people became caught up in the excitement of the movie.

Just about everyone living in Whangara or with a connection to the village was involved in Whale Rider.

"I know we will never experience anything like it again," said Elizabeth Nikora, who was an extra in the movie. "Everyone was so wonderful. And to see how our young girl [Keisha] has gone ... that part was written for her."

Talk in Whangara has already turned to the party the locals will have if Keisha wins.

The Whale Rider premiere in Gisborne was great, they say, but the post-Oscars celebration party will be even bigger.