Mataku - Hei Muri Te Mata (making of documentary)

I think that one of the big things about the series has been the faith that the producers have had in new people  . . .  a real important part of what the series has done is to bring a whole new generation of filmmakers, working on projects that they're very passionate about, into the industry. 

– Writer and director Michael Bennett

... it's Māori's telling their own story. It's us telling our own story, and nobody one tells it better than the people involved. 

– Actor Alvin Fitisemanu, early in this documentary

Ko te mea pai o te mahi i te kaupapa nei, i reira a Ngāmaru [Raerino], i reira tētahi kaumātua rānei hei tuku karakia, hei, hei whakapai i te wairua, hei whakatau i te wairua, hei whakanoa i ngā mahi mēnā rā i mahi tātou i tētahi mahi tapu, ahakoa karakia i te tīmatanga o tērā mahi, ka mutu te mahi, a, ko karakia anō, hei whakawātea i a tātou, kia kore ai, a, te mahi i mahia e tātou e hoki mai ki te pokepoke anō i a tātou, ki te ngāu anō i a tātou a muri ake nei. / The good thing about working on this kaupapa was that Ngāmaru [Raerino] was there, or there was always as kaumātua present to offer karakia — to uplift the wairua, to settle the wairua, to remove any tapu from the work we had done. Even if there was a karakia at the beginning, once the work was done, there would be another karakia to release us - so that the world we had done wouldn't come back to cling to us, or bite us later on.

– Scotty Morrison

...once you took the essence of that story and you clothed it in modern costume, in modern idiom, then  . . .  people look at it. And also what it does is it introduces the culture to a whole lot of people who wouldn't necessarily see it — because they see the story, and they think 'that's a great story'. And then someone says 'actually that's based on a legend of so and so' . . . now they're interested in the legend.

– Mataku executive producer John Barnett on how the show fuels interest in Māori legends and spirituality

In a nutshell, the process of the story was find the old stories that we had in us to tell, adapt a dramatic style of writing to it, get a few Māori experts who live in that spirit realm to add their part to it, to see how we can finish the story in a Māori way...

– Mataku co-creator Bradford Haami on how the scripts were developed

It’s a stunning representation of Māori on screen and a celebration and honoring of the beliefs and mythology unique to New Zealand, all packaged as a cracking good sci-fi show with plenty of Kiwiana-feels.

– Spinoff writer Don Rowe in a review of the Mataku series, 30 October 2015

We have a responsibility to our culture and our spirituality. Our people are very spiritual people and here we are taking some of that spirituality and turning them into stories so the rest of the world can get a glimpse of that aspect of our culture.

– Writer, director and producer Carey Carter on bringing Māori stories to the screen, The NZ Herald, 26 September 2002

Cliff had the opportunity to learn a lot of stuff from the big boys overseas — he'd worked with Scorsese, he'd worked with Michael Mann, all the big names, so he had all the screen techniques . . . At the editing level, it was very funny, he had my editors up till all hours at night and I said, 'Hey, mate, you can't work these people that hard'. 

– Writer, director and producer Carey Carter on working with director Cliff Curtis, The NZ Herald, 26 September 2002

Where Mataku stands out most, where it’s seriously ahead of it’s time, is in its portrayal of the Māori people. The cast is predominantly Māori, and Te Reo Māori makes up a significant portion of the dialogue . . . It’s a bold, assertive decision, but one that is absolutely essential to the quality of the show.

– Spinoff writer Don Rowe in a review of the Mataku series, 30 October 2015

Humour is a big part of sadness or darkness in Māori culture you know, and it's often used as a valve to relieve or to sort of bring some light into a dark situation.

– Actor Pio Terei

I reckon it's honest to a Māori world: that humour, and the dark side or the evil side can work together you know, can underpin the evil. We weren't that sure either. And I think the producers  . . . Carey and Brad were getting 'oh, what have we got here - we've got this Pio, and we've got that crazy Samoan [actor] Alvin [Fitisemanu], then we've got those two porangi sheilas from you know, and what have we got?' But I was really proud of the final product, and I think we got the balance right.

– Pio Terei, on the 'Divine Intervention' episode of Mataku

We discovered that our whakapapa matched up . . . then we started sharing stories...

– Mataku co-creator Carey Carter on connecting with fellow creator Bradford Haami