My Octopus Teacher

The film shows how, in 2010, Foster began free-diving in a cold underwater kelp forest at a remote location in False Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa.[2][3] The location was near Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula,[4] which is exposed to the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic Ocean.[5] He started to document his experiences and, in time, met a curious young octopus that captured his attention. He decided to keep visiting her den and tracking her movements every day for a year to win the animal’s trust. The two form a bond where she plays with Foster and allows him into her world to see how she sleeps, lives, and eats. In the film, Foster describes the impact on his life of his relationship with the octopus.

The film shows Craig's growing intimate relationship with the octopus as he follows her around for nearly a year. It shows the octopus defending herself against pyjama sharks. In one attack, the octopus loses an arm, and retreats to her den to recover, slowly regenerating the arm over three months. In a later attack of a shark, she shows an incredibly improved creativity to survive, including sticking on the sharks back. Later, after mating with a bigger octopus and producing a large number of eggs, the octopus dies naturally while tending for her eggs and a shark takes her body away.

Foster describes the effect of this mentorship that the octopus provided him with as teaching him a lesson on the fragility of life and humanity's connection with nature.[6] This translated to Foster creating a deeper bond with his son as his son develops as a diver and marine life student.

• Craig Foster, as himself
• Tom Foster, Craig's son, as himself

In partnership with Sea Change Project, Off The Fence and ZDF Enterprises, My Octopus Teacher, was executive produced by Ellen Windemith. It was directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. Cinematography was directed by underwater cameraman Roger Horrocks with footage from Craig Foster and Roger Horrocks.[7][8][9] A smaller amount of underwater footage, not shown in the film but filmed by the same pairing at the same location, had already been shown on Blue Planet II, episode 5.[10]

Foster was also a producer via his involvement with the Sea Change Project,[11] and his wife, Indian environmental journalist Swati Thiyagarajan, was production manager for the film.[12]

Foster 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.[13]

My Octopus Teacher was released on 7 September 2020 on Netflix.[14]

• My Octopus Teacher on Netflix
• My Octopus Teacher at IMDb, including a trailer
• My Octopus Teacher at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sea Change Project and its The Making of My Octopus Teacher