The proudly South African film My Octopus Teacher won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film early Monday morning laying the foundation for an unprecedented increase in ocean awareness.
The film, which has won more than 20 international awards, including Best Documentary at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and Producers Guild of America Awards, becomes the first nature documentary to win an Academy Award since The Cove in 2010.
Co-director Pippa Ehrlich, who accepted the iconic gold statuette at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles with co-directing colleague James Reed, said she was “utterly overwhelmed” with “an honour we never dreamed possible”.
“In many ways, this really is a tiny personal story that played out in sea forest at the very tip of Africa, but on a more universal level I hope that it provided a glimpse of a different type of relationship between human beings and the natural world.”
South Africa is justifiably over the moon and in a personal letter before the ceremony, President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated the production team of the film, saying it was “documentary storytelling at its best, with a deeply resonant conservation message”.
Anant Singh also added his praises to the team saying I congratulate Craig Foster and the filmmaking team of My Octopus Teacher on winning the coveted Best Documentary Feature Academy Award®. It is also a huge boost for the South African film industry as the film was shot in Cape Town and went on to capture the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world, profiling the natural beauty of the country.”
The film last year became the first South African documentary to become a Netflix Original. It was released to instant acclaim during the global Covid-19 lockdown, which Ehrlich acknowledges as partly serendipitous to the film’s stellar rise in popularity: “In a difficult year, where many of us were stuck inside, feeling afraid and confused, a positive story that transports you to a magical world has a powerful appeal.”
Foster, a documentary filmmaker for 28 years, says the Oscar victory brings life-affirming kudos to the media advocacy work by the film’s producing entity the Sea Change Project, which he co-founded with My Octopus Teacher Associate Producer Ross Frylinck in 2012.
“The Academy Award elevates the Great African Seaforest and surrounding ocean of South Africa into global iconic status. This is excellent news for us because it underlines what we have been aiming for: to show the world that we are sitting on a biodiversity treasure trove that is deeply worthy of protection.”
Watch an emotional Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed accept the award on behalf of their team. Congratulations - you have done South African proud!
