Sesame Tree, Northern Ireland's version of Sesame Street, has been awarded a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award for one of its episodes, ‘The Share Necessities'. The international awards body CINE aims to recognise excellence in the production of film, television, video and new media. Sesame Tree was recognised in the ‘Children's Programmes' category.
Sesame Tree's Executive Producer Colin Williams said, "We are delighted to have been awarded such a prestigious honour. It was a privilege to work on Sesame Tree with our friends at Sesame Workshop in New York. We are extremely proud of the series and the tremendously talented local writers, performers and production staff that worked on it. We are delighted that the show, which emphasises the richness and variety of Northern Irish culture and completely supports the new Northern Ireland Curriculum, has gained such recognition on an international platform."
The CINE awards were founded in America in 1957. The CINE Golden Eagle Award acknowledges high quality production in a variety of content categories for professional, independent and student filmmakers. Each year, hundreds of jurors judge nearly 1,000 entries in 27 categories. Previous winners include eminent filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, both of whom won the Golden Eagle early in their careers.
The winning Sesame Tree episode, ‘The Share Necessities', focuses on the theme of sharing and features the Loughran quintuplets, Conan, Aaron, Caitlin, Alanna and Aine from Dungannon in the live action film part of the programme. Through the programme, children have the opportunity to look at their responsibilities for themselves and others as well as learning how to respond appropriately in conflict situations and how to live as a member of the community.
Sesame Tree series is co-produced by SixteenSouth, part of the Inferno Group, a leading creative television production and facilities house based in Belfast, and Sesame Workshop, the not-for-profit organisation behind Sesame Street. The show, which aired last summer, was initially shown on BBC Two Northern Ireland and then nationally on CBeebies. It features characters specially created and developed for audiences in Northern Ireland and brought to life by local performers.
The wide range of voices and faces, including children from Northern Ireland's Polish, Chinese and African communities, featured on the show reflects the richness of Northern Ireland today. The show's Muppets, Potto and Hilda, who live in the ‘tree' contact favourite Sesame Street friends like Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and Elmo as well as present live action films about children from all over the world.
Sesame Tree is supported online with a fun, interactive and educational website for children, www.bbc.co.uk/ni/school/sesametree, developed by BBC Northern Ireland Learning.
