Craig Foster (filmmaker)

Craig Foster is a South African documentary filmmaker, naturalist, and founder of the Sea Change Project. He is known for the film My Octopus Teacher (2020).

Career

In 2012, he co-founded the Sea Change Project, a nonprofit group to protect marine life and raise awareness of the importance of the kelp forest in South Africa.[1][2]

When making The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story (2000) and My Hunter's Heart (2010),[3] he learnt some of the animal tracking techniques from the San people of the Kalahari Desert.[4]

My Octopus Teacher
Main article: My Octopus Teacher

Foster was the subject, producer,[2] and photographer of a 2020 Netflix Original film called My Octopus Teacher, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed.[5][6] The movie is about his experience diving in the kelp forests at a remote location in False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape of South Africa,[7] every day for a year. During that time, he found a common octopus that began to trust him, and he revisited and filmed her every day for that year.[8] He started filming in 2010; the film was ten years in the making and was the first South African nature documentary to be on Netflix Original.[1]

Recognition

During the course of his underwater tracking, Foster discovered eight new species of shrimp. One of them, Heteromysis fosteri, was named after him.[4][9]

Personal life

Foster is married to the Indian documentary filmmaker and environmental journalist Swati Thiyagarajan. They have a son named Tom.[10][11]

Publications

Foster is the co-author of Sea Change - Primal Joy and the Art of Underwater Tracking.[4]

Selected filmography

Foster's film projects include:[12][3]

  • The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story (2000, director)
  • Africa Unbottled (2001, director)
  • Cosmic Africa (2003, director)
  • My Hunter's Heart (2010, director)
  • Into the Dragon's Lair (2010, cinematographer)
  • Wild Walk (2010 TV series, director)
  • Touching the Dragon (2013, director)
  • Dragons Feast (2014 TV documentary film, director)
  • My Octopus Teacher (2020, producer,[2] photography, subject)

References
  1. Stark, Vicky. "'Octopus Teacher' Lets Filmmaker Into Secret World". Voice of America - English. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  2. "Projects". Sea Change Project. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  3. Craig Foster at IMDb
  4. Allie, Mohammed (4 November 2018). "'How I became friends with an octopus'". BBC News. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. Jeffs, Kathryn. "Filming the octopus Houdini in South Africa". Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "Filmmaker Craig Foster Talks About My Octopus Teacher on Fresh Air". Northern California Public Media. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. InterNewsCast (19 September 2020). "Where was 'My Octopus Teacher' on Netflix Filmed?". Internewscast. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. Foster, Craig. "Filmmaker Finds An Unlikely Underwater Friend In 'My Octopus Teacher'". NPR.org. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. Wittmann, Karl J.; Griffiths, Charles L. (13 July 2017). "Three new species of Heteromysis (Mysida, Mysidae, Heteromysini) from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, with first documentation of a mysid-cephalopod association". ZooKeys (685): 15–47. doi:10.3897/zookeys.685.13890. PMID 29089836. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  10. Pomarico, Nicole (7 September 2020). "Meet Swati Thiyagarajan, Wife Of 'My Octopus Teacher' Star Craig Foster". YourTango. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  11. Rego, Anoushka (7 September 2020). "Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher: Is He Married? Who is Craig Foster's Wife?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  12. Fogarty, Paul (16 September 2020). "Who is Craig Foster? The human star of My Octopus Teacher has left fans in tears". HITC. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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