Whina

2022

1h 55m

Biography

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

Trailblazing Maori leader Dame Whina Cooper spends her life breaking boundaries, speaking for the rights of Maori, and fighting for the land.

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Tim Grierson

Screen International

The film opts for a sweeping overview, which gives the narrative scope but suffers by not always capturing the inner world of a woman who experienced myriad heartbreaks without losing a sense of herself.

Aug 16, 2022

Full Review

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Whina is given very well-appointed and loving treatment in a story that’s so powerful it rises above the filmmakers’ more sentimental tendencies.

Rated: 3.5/5

Apr 1, 2023

Full Review

Jane Freebury

Jane Freebury

A respectful tribute to a remarkable activist with strong central performances, but less restraint and more spirit would have gone a long way

Rated: 3/5

Nov 20, 2022

Full Review

Nadine Whitney

FILMINK (Australia)

… brings a critical figure in Aotearoan history to vivid, if somewhat sentimentalised, life.

Rated: 15/20

Oct 29, 2022

Full Review

James Hanton

Outtake Mag

It is as much a lesson from history as it is a profoundly intimate portrait of an individual, but rides both of these waves with grace and beauty to spare.

Rated: 4 / 5

Aug 21, 2022

Full Review

Kate Rodger

Newshub (NZ)

Miriama McDowell and Vinnie Bennett as Dame Whina and William Cooper bring their love story to life, and Rena Owen brings the gravitas and mana wahine as she marched her way down the motu and into the history books.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 30, 2022

Full Review

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James Napier Robertson

Director

Paula Whetu Jones

Director

Rena Owen

Older Whina Cooper

Vinnie Bennett

William Cooper

James Rolleston

Gabriel

Miriama McDowell

Younger Whina Cooper

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Synopsis

Trailblazing Maori leader Dame Whina Cooper spends her life breaking boundaries, speaking for the rights of Maori, and fighting for the land.

Director: James Napier Robertson, Paula Whetu Jones
Producer: Matthew Metcalfe, Tainui Stephens
Screenwriter: James Lucas, James Napier Robertson, Paula Whetu Jones
Production Co: General Film Corporation, Ingenious Media
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: Australian English
Runtime: 1h 55m