And late last month it was named top documentary at the PGA Awards.Īs is frequently the case with documentaries, the film went through multiple iterations before taking its final form as a two-hander about an eight-limbed creature and her human companion. But in March it began to gain steam, earning a DGA nomination, then the Oscar nod. Like the stealthy octopus of the film, the documentary slid under the radar for much of Oscar season, somehow eluding broad attention despite winning awards at a variety of film festivals, two prizes at the IDA Awards, and recognition for its cinematography and editing. “This has been a life experience I’d never imagine I’d have.” “I was surprised enough to jump about a meter and-a-half into the air,” Ehrlich recalls. Last month the Netflix film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, a development Ehrlich says she wasn’t expecting when she tuned in for the announcement from her native South Africa. The scene is so compelling because by that point the audience is emotionally wrapped up in the destiny of the octopus-a tribute to the storytelling skill of directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, and of Foster, a South African naturalist and producer of the film. “She’s got the upper hand,” says Craig Foster, the human subject of the film-the male lead, so to speak. Netflix Films 'Dick Johnson Is Dead' And 'My Octopus Teacher' Lead Critics' Choice Documentary Award Winners "The Academy Has Really Changed": Documentary Feature Nominees Celebrate International Accent To Oscar Nominations WME Signs Oscar-Nominated 'My Octopus Teacher' Filmmaker James Reed Then something even more remarkable happens-the octopus seeks protection in the most ingenious way, by attaching herself to the back of the shark so the marauder can’t attack her. The aggressive predator latches onto the balled-up octopus, spinning in a frenzied death roll, but can’t penetrate the shells. She jets, weaves, inks the waters like Bond expelling smoke from his Aston Martin, dives for shelter, then encrusts herself in a makeshift armor of discarded shells. The film’s heroine, a tentacled cephalopod, is being pursued by a pajama shark through a kelp forest off the tip of South Africa. There’s a chase scene in My Octopus Teacher as suspenseful as anything in a Hollywood thriller.
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