My Teacher the Octopus

Incredible! I read the Network Africa Germany news and saw a headline about an octopus and a diver who became a teacher and pupil. An octopus and a man? An octopus that is intelligent? For many, the very incarnation of a disgusting monster? So I googled it. First, I found the official trailer, then scenes of the documentary. I thought this was surely unique, a one-off. It is the remarkable story of the filmmaker Craig Foster, who had previously suffered from burnout. Intrigued by a young octopus, he returned to visit her, eventually accompanying her for almost a year. As they became friends, the creature trusted the man, allowing him to enter her life and death. He learned how she ate, slept, defended herself against pyjama sharks, healed an injury and after mating, cared for her eggs – and died a natural death.

Foster explained that the experience taught him the fragility of life and the link between nature and man. Finally, it brought him closer to his son, a diver and marine life student.

I’m still overwhelmed by this miracle that took place in the cold waters of the Atlantic, near Simon’s Town in the Cape Peninsula. No wonder the 2020 film directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed has now been awarded the Oscar of the best documentary.

One of the cited comments spoke of the beauty of the film and the world beneath the waters, also of the moving relationship between the creature and man. One can only applaud and agree: this conflict-torn world needs humans like Craig Foster.