My Octopus Teacher
After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
- Released: 2020-09-04
- Runtime: 84 minutes
- Genre: Documentaries
- Stars: Craig Foster, Tom Foster
- Director: Philippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Comments
- nathann-78410 - 28 November 2022
well filmed
This documentary film follows a passionate filmmaker, Craig Foster, in South Africa who regains his passion through snorkeling. His journey begins near the coast of Cape Town where he explores the deep kelp forest. While diving one day, he noticed a small octopus and was instantly fascinated by it. After going back home, he plans on revisiting this tiny creature consecutively for 300 days. I was shocked by how quickly the relationship between the two began to grow and develop into a learning experience.
Over a short period of time, he gains the little creature's trust and slowly the octopus shows the diver little bits and pieces of his life. Through its ups and downs their relationship only grew stronger. When Craig Foster dived down to film about the octopus, it wasn't just a diver who was filming about an octopus, but rather the pure relationship between the two. He learned about the octopus's security and adaptation. There was a period of time when the octopus was forced into another environment due to invading predators, it learned about its foreign environment and thrived. This made me think about our lives and how it's truly all temporary. This film reflects on the existential fact that our life is momentary, ephemeral and ruled by entropy. We are always coming and going. Things pass by and never come again. Nothing sticks, nothing stays. All flows towards its end.
The complexities of the natural world are often overlooked in the hustle of life. Between the pressure and balance of school, family, friends, and hobbies, there is hardly enough time and effort left for people to stop and really notice a flower on the way you walk to school, much less to even notice it. Although I try to keep myself busy, I think it's necessary for everyone to once in a while go outside to stop and really watch and listen to the things around you. I think some may be surprised by how much is surrounding us and the little things we don't usually notice will be magnified. Times when I feel burned out from school, work, or friends and family, My Octopus Teacher teaches us that even from the smallest things in nature anyone can find renewal to ourselves.
On a recent trip to the park, I noticed a line of ants retrieving food. This reminded me of My Octopus Teacher. I was fascinated by the organization and teamwork the ants had carrying a piece of bread too large for one to carry. Similar to the diver, I stopped and really noticed a small part of nature that could also teach a lesson on teamwork. One singular ant would have never been able to carry the whole piece of bread, but together with its colony of ants, they are able to bring back the whole piece as a contribution to the rest of the colony. I thought this was interesting because I connected with this picture. I feel like I try and do a lot of things myself, rejecting other people's help, but in reality ,if i stop and really listen and think about it, I could have never done it all by myself. - aroreinis - 26 June 2022
Worth watching
Recently I decided to stop scrolling on social media and instead learn about the world, learn new things. This was my first documentary after a long time. The story was awesome and breathtaking I could see myself in the man. And the moment he decided to let the nature flow without interfeering was hard to accept but was the right thing to do. It's fully worth watching if you are interrested in underwater life.
