President Cyril Ramaphosa has written a letter to the My Octopus Teacher team to offer his support ahead of the Oscars. He shares how proud he and South Africa are of everyone involved.
South Africa (23 April 2021) – President Cyril Ramaphosa has given his vote of confidence to the team of ‘My Octopus Teacher’ ahead of the Academy Awards this coming weekend. He has shared his support and encouragement, discussing how he sees a big future for this documentary throughout South Africa.
The proudly South African documentary was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year and has since won the title of Best Documentary at the BAFTAs. The 93rd Academy Awards will take place this weekend, Sunday the 25th of April 2021, but for South Africans, Monday the 26th of April at 2:00 am.
The unexpected documentary about a man’s bond with an octopus entitled My Octopus Teacher captivated the world in 2020. The documentary was filmed in Cape Town and followed how a tiny octopus formed a bond with free-diver Craig Foster.
The feature documentary is a collaboration between the Sea Change Project, an NGO raising awareness of the beauty and ecological importance of South Africa’s kelp forest, Off the Fence Productions based in the Netherlands and Netflix. This is the first Netflix Original Documentary to come out of South Africa. Directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed and produced by Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher is the culmination of a decade of hard work and dedication to showcasing The Great African Seaforest and the creatures that live in it.
You can read President Cyril Ramaphosa’s letter below.
On behalf of all the people of South Africa, I offer my congratulations to the production team of “My Octopus Teacher ”, especially also for having recently won the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) for Best Documentary.
A special commendation is due to the Sea Change Initiative, the producer Craig Forster, and the directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. The documentary is storytelling at its best, with a deeply resonant conservation message.
The team should be justifiably proud, as are we, that “My Octopus Teacher” has been nominated in the Best Documentary category for this year’s Academy Awards – a first ever for a South African documentary. This Oscar nomination is part of a long list of commendations and awards the documentary has received.
Conservation of our natural world, and our oceans, in particular, is a national priority for South Africa. It also advances Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 that exhorts us to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
That this documentary has opened a window into the natural beauty and diversity of South Africa’s oceans and marine ecosystems is to be commended. Importantly, this documentary will encourage a greater appreciation and advocacy for marine conservation at a time when ocean degradation is a growing global problem.
In this regard, I am greatly encouraged that the documentary will be translated into multiple South African languages.
I call on the producers of “My Octopus Teacher” to ensure it gains greater distribution locally, especially in our schools.
Bringing home the Oscar will indeed be a crowning achievement for the production team and for our country.”
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