Oscar-Nominated “My Octopus Teacher” Creators Discuss Film

NATURAL HISTORY FILMMAKER CRAIG FOSTER WAS BURNT OUT AND DEPRESSED WHEN HE DECIDED TO PUT HIS CAREER ON HOLD.

HE TOOK UP DAILY DIVING AT HOME IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA.

HE STRUCK UP AN UNUSUAL FRIENDSHIP WITH A WILD OCTOPUS.

THE FILM WAS SHOT OVER EIGHT YEARS.

IT'S CALLED 'MY OCTOPUS TEACHER.'

IT DOCUMENTS HOW THIS UNIQUE BOND TAUGHT HIM VALUABLE LESSONS.

LIFE.

I HAD THIS CRAZY IDEA.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I JUST WENT EVERY DAY?

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THE FILM WON A BEST DOCUMENTARY BAFTA AND IT IS NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR.

HERE IS OUR HARI SREENIVASAN TALKING TO DIVER AND PRODUCER CRAIG FOSTER AND THE PRODUCER PIPPA EHRLICH.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

CRAIG, TAKE US BACK TO THAT FIRST DAY WHEN YOU, WELL, MET THIS OCTOPUS.

YEAH.

IT'S QUITE A LONG TIME AGO NOW.

SO SHE WAS IN A VERY STRANGE POSITION.

SHE WAS HOLDING ALL THOSE SHELLS AND STONES OVER HER PROTECTING HER.

I AT THAT TIME DIDN'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WAS THIS SOME STRANGE SORT OF OCTOPUS.

THEN SUDDENLY SHE LET THEM GO.

IT WAS THIS MAGICAL MOMENT.

I EVENTUALLY GOT TO KNOW HER SO WELL.

A REALLY UNUSUAL INDIVIDUAL.

PIPPA, HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED IN THIS?

YOU'RE SWIMMING ALONG WITH CRAIG.

HE STARTS TELLING YOU THIS TALE THAT HE'S BEEN SHOOTING AN OCTOPUS FOR DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS?

HE KIND OF MENTIONED VAGUE THINGS TO ME ABOUT THIS OCTOPUS.

HE HAD NEVER SAT ME DOWN AND TOLD ME THE WHOLE STORY AND ONE DAY HE DID.

HE KIND OF SAID, LOOK, I KNOW I SAID I WAS NEVER GOING TO MAKE ANOTHER FILM, BUT I THINK WE'VE GOT A STORY HERE.

IT HAD BEEN SUCH A TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR HIM THAT IT WAS SOMETHING HE REALLY WANTED TO SHARE.

I WAS SITTING AT MY DESK AT WORK ONE DAY AND HE SENDS ME THE TREATMENT AND I JUST STARTED CRYING.

SOMETHING IN THAT STORY RESONATED WITH ME ON A VERY BIG LEVEL.

I THINK IT'S BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND ALL SORTS OF THINGS OUT AT THE MOMENT ABOUT THE DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT OF HUMAN BEINGS ON NATURE AND THIS WAS A REALLY HOPEFUL AND INSPIRING FILM ABOUT THE IMPACT OF NATURE ON A HUMAN BEING.

THAT'S WHY I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT.

CRAIG, TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.

THE TITLE SAYS TEACHER.

WHAT WAS THIS PROCESS LIKE?

WHAT WAS THIS OCTOPUS TEACHING YOU?

WELL, YOU CAN IMAGINE IF YOU NEED TO LEARN ABOUT AN ANIMAL, AT AN ANIMAL'S BEHAVIOR, WHERE'S THE BEST PLACE YOU COULD POSSIBLY GO ON THIS PLANET TO LEARN?

IT'S NOT AT A UNIVERSITY OR SCHOOL.

IT'S ACTUALLY DIRECTLY FROM THAT ANIMAL.

IF YOU HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF VISITING AN ANIMAL LIKE THAT EVERY DAY FOR MONTHS ON END, IT'S A MASTER CLASS EVERY DAY.

WHEN THAT ANIMAL EVENTUALLY TRUSTS ONE, YOU GET LET INTO THE INNER WORLD, THE SECRET WORLD OF THE OCTOPUS.

SHE LET ME INTO HER WORLD AND SHOWED ME BEHAVIORS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN BEFORE.

I DIDN'T SEE HER AS A PET OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

SHE'S LITERALLY WILD, WILD KIN.

SHE TAUGHT ME AT A VERY, VERY DEEP LEVEL, A VERY, VERY DEEP LEVEL ABOUT BEHAVIOR AND ABOUT HER LIFE.

PIPPA, WE'VE LIVED THROUGH AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY A GIANT POWER POINT DECK WITH FACTS AND FIGURES, BUT THIS IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONSERVATION OR ENVIRONMENTAL FILM IN THE SENSE THAT YOU'RE NOT HITTING US OVER THE HEAD WITH IT.

IT'S JUST A SIMPLE PERSONAL STORY.

IT IS.

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST DEBATE WE HAD DURING THE FILMMAKING PROCESS.

THERE WAS LONG CONVERSATIONS DEEP INTO THE NIGHT BETWEEN CRAIG AND I AND OUR EP AND CRAIG'S WIFE.

EVERYBODY HAD A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON HOW WE SHOULD DO THIS.

BUT IN THE END I FELT LIKE THE STORY THAT WE HAD WAS SO INSPIRING AND SO HOPEFUL AND IT REALLY RATHER THAN BEING A PORTRAIT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING WRONG IN THE WORLD AND, AS I SAID EARLIER, THE DESTRUCTION THAT WE'RE WREAKING ON THE NATURAL WORLD.

CRAIG'S RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE PROVIDES A DIFFERENT VISION FOR WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HUMAN BEING, YOU KNOW, SHARING THIS PLANET WITH MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF OTHER SPECIES.

THERE WAS SOMETHING RESPECTFUL AND AWE INSPIRING ABOUT IT.

THAT'S WHAT WE WANTED THE MAIN MESSAGE TO BE.

CRAIG, BY THE TIME WE GET TO THIS POINT IN THE FILM, THE SEEN THAT I WOULD CALL BASICALLY FIRST CONTACT, IT'S LIKE YOU'VE DESCRIBED THE OCTOPUS AS AN ALIEN EARLIER ON, BUT THERE IS THIS MOMENT WHERE YOU PUT YOUR FINGER OUT AND SHE JUST REACHES ONE OF HER TENTACLES OUT AND TOUCHES YOU.

THEN IT JUST HAPPENS.

I PUT MY HAND OUT A TINY BIT.

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IT'S SOMETHING VISCERAL THAT HAPPENS TO THE AUDIENCE THAT'S WATCHING.

BY THAT TIME, WE KIND OF FEEL LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL GOING ON.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THAT MOMENT WAS LIKE?

YEAH.

IT'S HARD TO FORGET.

THAT FIRST MOMENT OF CONTACT IS OBVIOUSLY VERY, VERY POWERFUL.

SHE'S STILL NOT FULLY TRUSTING.

SHE'S TESTING.

SHE'S REACHING OUT AND TESTING, IS THIS THING SAFE AS I THINK IT MIGHT BE.

I'M VERY CURIOUS BUT I'M VERY FEARFUL.

THEN SHE COMES UP AND STARTS MOVING AROUND WITH ME AND ALLOWS ME TO GO ON HUNTS WITH HER.

THAT'S THE REAL PART.

THAT FOR ME WAS THE MOST MOVING THING, TO HAVE A CEPHALOPOD TRUSTING A HUMAN LIKE THIS AND SHOWING ME THESE INCREDIBLE BEHAVIORS AND HER STRATEGY, HER SOPHISTICATION AND HER TREMENDOUS CLEVERNESS.

THAT WAS DEEPLY MOVING AND THAT'S WHAT REALLY, YOU KNOW, MOVED ME TO MY ABSOLUTELY CORE.

PIPPA, YOU'RE PROBABLY ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO SEE THE FOOTAGE THAT HE HAD SHOT.

YOU KNOW, FROM AN OUTSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE, WHEN YOU SAW SOME OF THESE SCENES, DID YOU THINK THAT THERE WAS COGNITION, EMOTION, THINGS THAT MAYBE HUMANS, WE WANT TO PROJECT ONTO THE OCTOPUS, BUT AS CRAIG IS HAVING THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS OCTOPUS BECAUSE HE'S GETTING TO KNOW IT SO WELL, YOU'RE WATCHING THE FILM.

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

MY MIND IS BEING BLOWN.

I THINK IF I WANT TO THINK ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL WORLD OF AN OCTOPUS, THERE'S A SCENE WHERE SHE'S LEARNING TO HAVE THE LOBSTERS.

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THAT.

YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF FOOTAGE OF THIS.

WE'VE PICKED THE BEST BITS AND WE'VE TOLD THE STORY AS WELL AS WE CAN.

BUT WATCHING THOSE, I WOULD SEE THIS ANIMAL BECOMING FRUSTRATED.

FOR ME, THAT IS SUCH A RELATABLE FEELING.

AND OF COURSE YOU CAN SEE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HER AND CRAIG AND HOW CLEVER SHE IS.

BUT SOMETHING ABOUT THAT FRUSTRATION FELT VERY, VERY REAL TO ME.

CRAIG, IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU DIDN'T GIVE THIS OCTOPUS A NAME, DIDN'T TREAT IT AS A PET.

YOU EVEN MAINTAINED A CERTAIN DISTANCE THROUGH SOME TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCING IN ITS LIFE, WHEN A SHARK TAKES AN ARM AWAY.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN YOUR HEAD TO PROCESS KEEPING THAT CERTAIN DISTANCE OF SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE ESSENTIALLY GROWING CLOSER TO.

IT IS VERY DIFFICULT, BUT AS I SAID, WHEN YOU GET TO KNOW THIS ECOSYSTEM AND YOU GET TO KNOW HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR INSTANCE FOR THE SHARKS TO REACH ADULTHOOD AND HOW VULNERABLE THEY ARE, HOW VULNERABLE THEY ARE AS A SPECIES, THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO AS A HUMAN IS INTERFERE IN THAT GRAND SCHEME OF NATURE THAT'S DEVELOPED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS.

IT'S NOT OUR PLACE TO INTERFERE WITH THAT.

AS YOU THINK ABOUT THESE LIFE LESSONS THAT THIS OCTOPUS IS STARTING TO TEACH YOU THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WHAT IS THE PROCESS YOU'RE GOING THROUGH?

HOW IS THIS OCTOPUS HELPING YOU HEAL?

WELL, WHEN YOU GET TAKEN INTO DEEP NATURE AND INTO AN ANIMAL'S LIFE LIKE THIS, YOU GET TO REALIZE HOW, FIRST OF ALL, HOW TOUGH HER LIFE IS AND HOW DANGEROUS IT IS AND HOW PRECIOUS IT IS.

OF COURSE, I'M GETTING TO KNOW MANY OF THE OTHER ANIMALS IN THE KELP FOREST AS WELL.

EVENTUALLY, AND THIS IS AFTER MANY YEARS OF DIVING EVERY DAY, YOU HAVE THESE GLIMPSES OF THIS GIANT BIOLOGICAL MIND, THIS HUGE MIND OF MOTHER NATURE THAT'S REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF OUR WELL-BEING.

THE REASON WE CAN TALK NOW, WE CAN BREATHE, WE CAN EAT IS ALL BECAUSE OF THAT.

WE'VE LOST THAT KNOWLEDGE.

WE'VE LOST THAT UNDERSTANDING.

BUT OF COURSE, THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING.

THE FOUNDATION OF EVERY SINGLE THING WE DO ON THIS PLANET AS HUMANS IS THANKS TO MOTHER NATURE AND TO THIS GIANT BIOLOGICAL MIND.

YOU START TO HAVE THESE GREAT REALIZATIONS AND IT'S ALL THROUGH THESE SLOW, DEEP UNDERSTANDINGS OF CREATURES LIKE THIS EXTRAORDINARY ANIMAL THAT CAME TO BE MY TEACHER.

PIPPA, THE PROJECT THAT YOU BOTH WORK ON, SEA CHANGE, TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS AREA THAT CRAIG WAS IN, BUT ALSO KIND OF THE LARGER CHALLENGES THAT KELP FORESTS ARE FACING.

SO THE SEA CHANGE PROJECT IS THE NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION THAT WE WORK WITH.

IT'S A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS AND STORY-TELLERS THAT HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE GREAT AFRICAN SEA FOREST, WHICH IS THE PLACE WHERE THE OCTOPUS LIVES.

THIS IS A VAST UNDERWATER FOREST THAT STRETCHES FOR MORE THAN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS ALL THE WAY UP THE COAST OF NAMIBIA.

THE THING ABOUT THE KELP FOREST IS THAT THEY COVER ABOUT 25% OF OUR GLOBAL COASTLINES AND HARDLY ANYONE IS SPEAKING ABOUT THEM.

THAT'S A HUGE CHUNK OF MARINE HABITAT.

THEY HAVE BEEN LABELED AS THE SECOND MOST VULNERABLE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

THEY ARE VERY, VERY PRECIOUS PLACES, BUT THEY'RE ALSO IN A LOT OF TROUBLE.

KELP FORESTS HAVE DISAPPEARED IN JUST A MATTER OF YEARS.

THE REASON THEY ARE SO IMPORTANT IS THEY ARE HUGE SEQUESTERERS OF CARBON.

THE BIODIVERSITY IN KELP FORESTS IS EXTRAORDINARY AS WELL AS THE MASSIVE LIFE THAT YOU FOUND THERE.

THEY ALSO PROTECT OUR COASTLINES FROM SWELL AND STORMS, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT IN THE AGE OF RISING SEA LEVELS.

SO THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL HABITATS, BUT THERE'S VERY LITTLE CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THEM.

WITH REGARDS TO OUR KELP FOREST ITSELF, WHAT WE'RE HOPING IS TO BUILD SUPPORT IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.

THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT AN ECOSYSTEM AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE IS TO MAKE IT AS RESISTANT AS YOU CAN, TO HAVE A GREAT LEVEL OF AWARENESS ABOUT WHY IT'S IMPORTANT AND HOW TO BEHAVE WITHIN IT.

CRAIG, SPEAKING OF ADD ADAPTATION AND BRILLIANCE, THE OCTOPUS SHOWS US THINGS THAT I DIDN'T KNOW AN OCTOPUS COULD DO.

THERE'S A SCENE WHERE IT'S BEING CHASED BY A SHARK AND IT JUST CRAWLS UP ON LAND.

YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS OCTOPUS FOR MONTHS BY THIS TIME.

DID YOU EXPECT IT TO JUST GET UP AND KEEP GOING?

NO.

SO MANY THINGS THAT SHE TAUGHT ME FOR MASSIVE SURPRISES.

THE INTELLIGENCE OF THIS ANIMAL IS SO EXTRAORDINARY.

IT'S EQUIVALENT TO MAMMAL INTELLIGENCE OR EVEN PRIMATE INTELLIGENCE.

THE EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT IT IS A LOT OF THE COGNITION, IN FACT TWO-THIRDS OF THE COGNITION IS IN THE ARMS, IN THE BODY AND OUTSIDE THE BRAIN.

IT'S THINKING IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY TO WHAT WE CAN IMAGINE.

SO IT'S HARD TO GET INSIDE HER HEAD, INSIDE HER BODY.

BUT WHAT SHE'S DOING IS JUST ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE.

CRAIG, I REMEMBER A LONG TIME AGO IN HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY CLASS FINDING OUT THAT OCTOPUSES WERE COLOR BLIND, BUT I WATCH YOUR FILM AGAIN AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW DO THEY CAMOUFLAGE THEMSELVES IF THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT COLORS ARE BUT THEY FIT SO PERFECTLY INTO THEIR ENVIRONMENT?

GOOD MEMORY.

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

YOU KNOW, THEY SEE IN MONOCHROME, SO HOW ON EARTH ARE THEY ACTUALLY MATCHING THAT COLOR SO WELL?

IT'S STILL A BIT OF A MYSTERY.

ALSO WHAT THEY SOMETIMES DO, WHICH IS FASCINATING, IF THEY CAN'T MATCH THE COLOR TOO PERFECTLY, THEY'LL LOOK AT ANOTHER OBJECT OR ANIMAL NEAR THEM AND MATCH THAT.

YOU THINK IT'S JUST SOME PIERCE OF ALGAE ON THEIR ARM, BUT THEY'RE NOT MATCHING TO THEIR BACKGROUND, THEY'RE MATCHING TO SOMETHING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.

IT'S EXTRA CLEVER, EXTRA SOPHISTICATED.

CRAIG, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU WITNESSED, THINGS THAT YOU DOCUMENTED THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN BEFORE?

IN THE BEHAVIOR WITH CREATING THIS ARMORING FROM THE SHELLS, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT I DISCOVERED THANKS TO HER.

SHE'S GOT A SOFT BODY.

IN EVOLUTION SHE HAS GIVEN UP HER SHELL SO SHE'S VERY VULNERABLE TO SHARK ATTACK.

SHE LIFTS UP SHELLS AND STONES, SOMETIMES UP TO 80 OF THEM AND IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND COVERS HER WHOLE BODY IN THIS SHELL AND STONE ARMOR TO PROTECT HERSELF FROM THE SHARK TEETH.

WHEN SHE'S FINISHED WITH THAT OR THE SHARK IS CONFUSED, JUST AT THE RIGHT MOMENT SHE'LL DROP ALL OF THOSE SHELLS AND HER SMELL WILL BE ON THOSE AND SHE'LL VANISH AND THE SHARK WILL OFTEN GO FOR THE SMELL ON THE SHELLS AND SHE'S ESCAPED.

I DON'T THINK IT'S IN THE FILM, BUT A SPECIES OF A SHRIMP THAT LIVES WITH HER IN THE DEN AND CONSEQUENTLY SOME OTHER SPECIES, SO SHE HELPED ME DISCOVER QUITE A FEW ANIMAL SPECIES, NEW SPECIES TO SCIENCE.

YOU KNOW, WE SAW EXTRAORDINARY BEHAVIORS LIKE HOW SHE LEARNS TO DEAL WITH CERTAIN PREY SO QUICKLY, LIKE LEARNING TO HUNT THE LOBSTER.

EVEN USING ME LIKE A SHIELD IN THE WATER WHEN SHE'S HUNTING.

SO JUST INCREDIBLE SOPHISTICATION.

PIPPA, WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS FILM?

ONE OF THE REASONS WE DIDN'T PUT A SPECIFIC CONSERVATION ISSUE INTO THE FILM IS WE DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS.

WE WANTED TO MAKE A FILM THAT EVERYBODY WAS PART OF.

EVERYBODY IS PART OF THE STORY, BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, IS DEPENDENT ON NATURE AND THE OCEAN FOR EVERY BREATH THAT YOU TAKE, EVERY BIT OF FOOD THAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH.

I THINK WE REALLY HOPE THAT PEOPLE WOULD START TO THINK ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD IN TERMS OF WHAT IT MEANS FOR OUR HEARTS, MINDS, BODIES AND SPIRITS, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN PART OF NATURE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME.

AS CRAIG SAID EARLIER, WE SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY.

AND THERE IS A DIFFERENT WAY OF BEING ON THIS EARTH.

THIS NEXT TEN YEARS THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, THIS IS THE TIME THAT WE HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY THAT WE TREAT THE LIVING PLANET.

IF WE DO THAT, WE CAN CREATE ANY FUTURE THAT WE WANT FOR ALL OF THE HUMAN SPECIES AND ANIMAL SPECIES THAT COME AFTER US.

THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING US.

THANK YOU.