Season 2 of Raised by Wolves is now available to binge on Showmax. One of Rotten Tomatoes’ most anticipated shows of 2022, Raised by Wolves more than lived up to expectations, with a 92% critics’ rating for its second season.
The New York Times hails “this strange but transfixing HBO Max sci-fi series” as “TV’s wildest hallucination” and “one of the most entrancing series TV currently has on offer”, singling out Amanda Collin as Mother for “giving one of the best television performances on television right now” as an android raising human children on virgin planet Kepler 22-b.
Cape Town as an alien planet
Despite being set on another planet, both seasons of Raised by Wolves were filmed in Cape Town. South Africa’s distinctive succulents and rock formations all add to the alien feeling, as do the clouds coming in low over the Stellenbosch mountains. As South African actress Kim Englbrecht, who plays Decima in Season 2, says, “Cape Town does have some element of being otherworldly, so it 100% lends itself to this genre. The beauty is so magnificent that it doesn’t seem real.”
An award-winning approach to sustainable filmmaking
Having won over TV critics, Raised by Wolves is now also being praised for pioneering a more sustainable approach to filmmaking. The production recently received a Gold Environmental Media Association seal for Sustainability.
Raised by Wolves is set after Earth has become uninhabitable, but HBO Max, Scott Free and South African production company Film Afrika deliberately made production choices that would contribute towards a more positive future.
“We’re the first generation that’s really felt the impact of climate change,” says Film Afrika line producer Cheryl Eatock, paraphrasing Barack Obama. “We’re also the last generation that can really do something about it. Every single thing we do makes a difference; it just depends on how much a difference you want to make.”
Season 1 kick-started sustainability in the South African film industry by funding the GreenSet training programme for eco stewards and green production assistants, as well as the creation of the GreenSet carbon calculator. Developed in partnership with Credible Carbon, the GreenSet carbon calculator used 46 key film-industry specific environmental indicators to measure Season 2’s carbon footprint.
This was supported by HBO and HBO Max’s sustainability production programme, HBOGreen, and the use of the Green Production Guide to outline the sustainability approach for the various departments, in conjunction with the GreenSet Action Plan. HBO Max, under WarnerMedia, is a member of the Sustainable Production Alliance, which co-created and utilises the Green Production Guide tools to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impacts on all its productions.
“The move to sustainability on set has only been possible through the support of our international production partners, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude.” Says Marisa Sonemann Turner, Film Afrika’s head of production.