Whale Rider is one of four films that have won grants

Four films, including the New Zealand coming-of-age drama, have been given money to make more prints.

It is hoped the grants will help them compete with bigger mainstream films like, Hulk and Terminator 3, and attract more viewers.

The money is part of a UK Film Council initiative to show a wider variety of films.

Smaller films often find it difficult to raise the money needed to make extra prints.

The other films given grants are Respiro, Goodbye Lenin and Raising Victor Vargas.

"We are really delighted to finally have a scheme that encourages and aids distributors to give less mainstream films a better chance to compete," said Elizabeth Draper, the head of Whale Rider's distributor Icon.