Niki Caro is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter born in 1967 in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. She was educated at Kadimah College in Auckland and then the Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, a private girls' school that ranks among the top-achieving schools in New Zealand.
Caro initially pursued training as a sculptor at the Elam School of Fine Arts but shifted her interest to film studies, graduating in 1988 at the age of 21. She then enrolled at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Victoria, for post-graduate studies.
After completing her studies, Caro directed television commercials before making her mark in the film industry. Her first feature film was "Memory and Desire" in 1998, an adaptation of a short story by Peter Wells, which was critically well-received and won a New Zealand film award.
Caro's breakthrough film was "Whale Rider" in 2002, which tells the story of a young Maori girl who stands as a candidate for the position of tribal chief. The film was a commercial success, earning over 41 million dollars at the worldwide box office and winning an award at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2005, Caro directed her first American film, "North Country", a drama loosely based on a class-action sexual harassment lawsuit. The film earned about 25 million dollars at the worldwide box office but failed to recover its budget expenses.
Caro's subsequent films include the romantic drama "A Heavenly Vintage" in 2009, an adaptation of the fantasy novel "The Vintner's Luck" by Elizabeth Knox, and the sports drama "McFarland, USA" in 2015, based on the life of track and field coach James White.
In 2017, Caro directed the war film "The Zookeeper's Wife", based on the lives of a married couple who sheltered hundreds of displaced Jews during World War II. She won an award at the Heartland Film Festival for her direction in this film.
Caro was also hired by the Walt Disney Company to direct a live-action remake of "Mulan" in 2017, making her the second female film director entrusted by Disney to direct a big-budget film. The remake is scheduled for release in 2020.
