The fifth season of the series will premiere on October 6 and aired every Wednesday at 4pm on SABC2.
LOCAL environmental series “Siyaya – Come wild with us” recently walked away with the Best Documentary award at the Golden Bee International Children’s Film Festival held in New Delhi, India.
The festival drew 186 entries from 18 countries covering three categories: best documentary; best short film and best feature film.
The extraordinary series focuses on discovering, nurturing and protecting the environment. Young adventurers explore some of the world’s most exciting natural spaces where they run into unexpected creatures.
Dr Francois Odendaal, director and renowned biologist said the aim of the project is to instil a growing curiosity in the (young) viewer to know more about the natural world in an entertaining and fun-filled way.
“How can we expect future generations to care about nature, our wild places and the beautiful creatures in them, if they don’t have the opportunity to learn to love nature?”
According to festival director, Rao Narender Yadav, the series had all the elements of “an invigorating experience”. He called the series “a fascinating visual treat for all, putting children in the lap of nature, exploring, learning and most importantly, understanding nature.”
Apart from winning awards, Dr Odendaal is very excited about Siyaya evolving from a television series into a project.
“It has a profound impact on society. For many of them the experience in nature has been life changing. We are following up with those who have been on the show and assisting some of them to make their own conservation films using cellphones. We have been invited to enter films made by youth themselves in the American Conservation Film Festival where ”Siyaya“ has enjoyed Official Selection status two years in a row.
“Siyaya” has been shown in well over half of the world’s countries and can be seen locally on multiple platforms from SABC2 to the Mindset Network on DSTV and now also available on Showmax.
The fifth season of the series will premiere on October 6 and aired every Wednesday at 4pm on SABC2.
