The Black Stilt

This documentary tells the story of the world’s rarest wading bird, the black stilt (kakī). With its precise beak and long pink legs the stilt is superbly adapted to the stony braided riverbeds of the Mackenzie Country, but it is tragically unable to deal with new threats (rats, ferrets, habitat loss). An early documentary for TVNZ’s Natural History Unit, the magnificently filmed drama of the stilt’s struggle for survival makes it "stand out as a classic of its genre" (as writer Russell Campbell puts it in this backgrounder). The Black Stilt won the Gold Award at New York’s International Film & TV Festival in 1984.

The only black stilt in the world, his ancestors came to this country from Australia thousands of years ago. Here, he gradually became a New Zealander.

– Narrator Donald Hope Evans, on the ancestry of the black stilt

Key Cast & Crew

Terry Gray

Composer

Hal Smith

Writer

Donald Hope Evans

Narrator

Rod Morris

Director, Producer

Swami Hansa

Camera Operator

Paul Donovan

Camera Operator