00:00
/
00:00
Kaitangata Twitch - First Episode
Television (Full Length Episode) – 2010
This multi award-winning series follows 12-year-old Meredith, who sees eerie visions as a Governors Bay island is drilled for mining. The Māori Television series was adapted from a Margaret Mahy novel by longtime collaborator Yvonne Mackay. Mahy makes a rainbow-wigged cameo in this episode where the locals protest a subdivision, and Meredith apprehends the island's 'twitch'. Newcomer Te Waimarie Kessell stars, with Charles Mesure and George Henare. The mix of the Māori concept of wairua with a willful 21st Century teenage heroine won a Remi Award at Worldfest-Houston 2010.
... according to the legend the cannibal’s spirit was absorbed into the land, and when he’s angry or hungry he [the ahi kaa] comes to life: the so-called ‘Kaitangata Twitch’. It’s freaky eh!– Meredith’s Dad (Charles Mesure) reads local history for the bedtime story
Key Cast & Crew
See all 30 credits
Acknowledgements
Made with funding from NZ On Air
More Information
If you liked this, you might also like...
Kaitangata Twitch
Kaitangata Twitch follows the adventures of a...
Maddigan's Quest - First Episode
Another Margaret Mahy adaptation with a young female lead
Whale Rider
Another determined young female Māori protagonist
Strangers - Full Series
Another magical kids drama written by Margaret Mahy
Hard Out - Full Series
Another anti-development teen who can see the truth
Under the Mountain
More supernatural island trouble
The Haunting of Barney Palmer
Another Margaret Mahy/Yvonne Mackay collaboration
Nia's Extra Ordinary Life
Another show with a girl in the main role
Mataku
More Māori spiritual stories modernised
The Changeover
Another Margaret Mahy fantasy
A Tall Long Faced Tale
More from Margaret Mahy and director Yvonne Mackay
The Island
Kids go on another island adventure
Woolly Valley
Margaret Mahy was also a writer on this
The Governor 1 - The Reverend Traitor (First Episode)
Also stars George Henare
Typhon's People
Another Margaret Mahy/Yvonne Mackay collaboration
Cuckoo Land - The Neighbour (Episode Two)
Another Margaret Mahy/Yvonne Mackay TV drama
The Silent One
A classic children's drama directed by Yvonne Mackay
Tales of the Mist - The Girl in the Cabbage Tree
More supernatural kids TV
Voices of the Land: Ngā Reo o te Whenua
Documentary on composer Richard Nunns
Nutcase
More pesky kids
The Z-Nail Gang
More fictional battles against development
Turangawaewae - A Place to Stand
Another exploration of tapu places
William Shatner's A Twist in the Tale: A Crack in Time
Another adventure show
William Shatner's A Twist in the Tale: Obsession in August
Another kidult drama edited by Paul Sutorius
Freaky - First Episode
More out of this world tales
So This Happened - Bekah and Marama
A Kiwi girl tells a tale of discrimination
Made in New Zealand - Margaret Mahy
Documentary about writer Margaret Mahy
Alex
Another rite-of-passage story about a young woman
White Lies
Te Waimarie Kessell also acted in this movie
Nia's Extra Ordinary Life - Series One
Another show with a girl in the main role
Rangi's Catch
Another adventure aimed at a young audience