Mataku - The Sisters (Ngā Tuāhine)

For safe passage through their domain, an offering was made for them.

– One of the characters describes the patupaiarehe (fairies)

They are the unseen ones who still dwell in our forests. It is said that when the mist clouds the forest ranges, it is a sure sign that these mysterious beings abound there. And every now and then, their' world meets ours.

– Host Temuera Morrison

We started exchanging old Māori stories we knew and then realised these spooky tales would make great television.

– Writer, director and producer Carey Carter on creating Mataku with Bradford Haami

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

Māori aren’t token spirituals, they’re the main event. Māori actors, Māori traditions and Māori stories. Mataku tends towards the tone of Whale Rider, where legend is not so far from reality and the old ways still hold sway.

 

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