THE WILD INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

M-Net’s outdoor soap The Wild, which features former Durban actress Josette Eales, was among the nominees for a Rockie Award at the 2012 Banff World Television Festival in Canada. The Wild was one of six nominated programmes in the award category "Soaps and Telenovelas" and competed against series from around the globe.

Lani Lombard, M-Net's Communications Manager, says receiving international recognition for The Wild is a coup for local television-making. "M-Net promised its viewers that The Wild would raise the bar in television soap production in the country. Being nominated for this international soap award is a feather in the cap of the passionate and dedicated team – both onscreen and behind-the-scenes – who have contributed to making The Wild such a high-class, stellar production. With this nomination, The Wild is putting us on the international television map and we are proud that our series - with its breathtaking African scenery, compelling stories, brilliant actors and high production value - have been selected to compete against top-notch programmes made by the best in the world."

The Banff World Media Awards - affectionately known as the Rockies – has been running for over three decades celebrating the very best in international content production in television and digital media.

Shows such as The Big C and Downton Abbey were among last year's winners in the entertainment categories, while the telenovela Eva Luna snatched the Soap and Telenovelas award from long-running nominated soaps such as Coronation Street and Days of our Lives.

The Wild, which has been on air for one year now, also won four SAFTA awards earlier this year. Premiere episodes are currently screened on M-Net, Mondays to Thursdays at 19h00 and Mzansi Magic viewers have been able to see a rerun of the series from April 2012.