That allows you to get close to other animals and not disturb them. The comments below have not been moderated. [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. He tracked the octopus to its den and says on the documentary – shot over a full year - that he feels there is something to learn from this creature. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. Was Craig worried about getting up close and personal with powerful predators during his swims, such as great white sharks? She even displays what may be the first recorded case of play behaviour in wild cephalopods. And we then join him at the beginning of his friendship journey with an animal that he discovers day by day is truly remarkable. Through his work Foster hopes to raise awareness of what he calls the "great African sea forest" — which spans from Cape Town up the coast to Namibia. This picture of Craig with the octopus was taken by his son, Tom, Viewers will see the octopus star of My Octopus Teacher (pictured) exhibiting behaviour never recorded by science or on film. We'll see the creature cunningly riding the back of a shark that’s hunting it, camouflaging itself almost magically with its surroundings – and greeting Craig with the affection of a pet dog. My Octopus Teacher tells the story of a Capetonian film maker and free diver, Craig Foster who needed a break from a busy schedule that was taking its toll. Jane Flanagan, Cape Town Wednesday September 16 2020, 12.00am , The Times It was the unlikeliest of friendships that reignited Craig Foster’s passion for life. These animals are very, very wary. For most humans, the only view of an octopus will be in an aquarium. Produced by Foster, and directed by Pippa Ehrlich and award-winning filmmaker James Reed, ... Craig became witness to the beauty and drama of a wild creature’s life and in the process, underwent an incredible mental and physical transformation. Foster is now producing a feature documentary and book to showcase the beauty of this seldom seen landscape. ‘The danger you come up against, in fact, is diving through caves repeatedly, enormous waves crashing over rocks… if you hit your head and get knocked unconscious, that’s it. The trailer for the documentary, which won Best Feature at the 2020 EarthxFilm Festival, can be seen here www.netflix.com/za/title/81045007. Craig first spotted the unusually curious octopus, pictured, in a calm 200-metre section of kelp forest – an ‘incredible place’ – holding on to multiple shells in a bid to protect itself from an unseen predator, Motorist refuses to reverse for driver and gets throttled, 3D map details the milky way using Gaia space observatory data, AJ Pritchard jokes about tension with Shane Ritchie on I'm A Celeb, Sasha Obama sings along to x-rated song on TikTok, Abandoned Golden Retriever is discovered and adopted by woman, Heated debate sparked over how to pronounce cappuccino, Widow leaves the house for the first time in three months, Wildlife Services save giraffe stranded on flooded island, Amazon launches free maths and coding resources for kids, Harry Kane is looking forward to having fans back in stadiums, Dog enjoys burying his face in the snow while frolicking on a field. The... Can't face the uncertainty of going abroad? The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Very smooth. It was very, very clear.’, Craig dived to the kelp forest partly to 'teach himself underwater tracking to the highest level possible'. Needing a reset, he returned to the underwater kelp forests off the southwest tip of Cape Town. You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. After dozens of encounters with the unnamed octopus, the teacher-student relationship crystalised. The location was near Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula, which is exposed to the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic Ocean. To learn more about the work of the Sea Change Project - 'a community of scientists, storytellers, journalists and filmmakers who are dedicated to the ocean' - visit stories.seachangeproject.com/my-octopus-teacher. How she uses tools to defend herself against attack and 'walks' - bipedally, tripedally, and quadrupedally - to navigate the seafloor. She used her body to communicate how she’s feeling, and how she used her body to communicate to predators to confuse them – you see some of that in the film. ‘What happens with octopuses is that when you come near them, they shrink back, but she was doing exactly the opposite. ', Craig revealed that the octopus showed definite signs that she recognised him. In the documentary, before the octopus’s ‘lessons’ become apparent, we learn that Craig, 52, began free-diving without a wetsuit in the frigid kelp forest at the tip of Africa - part of the 800-mile long Great African Sea Forest - to re-energise himself after suffering burnout. The film is a collaboration between the Sea Change Project, Off the Fence Productions based in the Netherlands and Netflix. With a long experience shooting and directing, and having received numerous international awards, the Foster brothers have deservedly carved themselves a niche in global film circles. In 2012, in order to protect the stretch of water he loves so dearly, Foster co-founded the Sea Change Project: “The idea was to get this great African Sea Forest, the home of the octopus teacher, recognized as a global icon, like the Serengeti or the Great Barrier Reef.” One octopus began coming out of her den to hunt or explore while Foster … ‘But what is a real danger is the Cape of Storms [also known as the Cape of Good Hope] – it’s one of the wildest most powerful ocean areas on our planet. Moving in a way that you don’t create pressure waves. The son of famed South African documentary filmmaker Craig Foster, here Tom talks about bonding with sharks in Cape Town … But in real terms they’re the least of your worries. During storms, Foster remembered that the ocean would “smash the doors down and fill up the bottom of the house.” WHERE IS FALSE BAY? The trailer for the documentary, which won Best Feature at the 2020 EarthxFilm Festival, can be seen here, The film is a collaboration between the Sea Change Project, Off the Fence Productions based in the Netherlands and Netflix. And how the amazing creature went on to become, he told MailOnline Travel, his ‘ultimate teacher’ – changing how he relates to nature. We'll also behold the common octopus showing him things that have never been recorded by science or on film. If the natural system suffers, we suffer. 'Saving The World Through The Wall Of Water' is a Tom Foster TEDx Talk. New Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher is an extraordinary account of a never-before-seen bond between filmmaker Craig Foster and a common octopus. ‘There wasn’t an initial intention to make a film at all. Craig Foster spent a year diving — without oxygen or a wetsuit — into the frigid sea near Cape Town, South Africa. Foster's received over 60 international awards for his work in documentary films. These fascinating, life changing experiences have been documented by South Africans Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck in a newly released book entitled Sea Change - Primal Joy … ‘They’re not overly aggressive to humans, especially if you relax. 'And she allowed me to put my miniature octopus camera inside her den and we then discovered a number of new species, crustaceans, living inside her den. However, then along came the encounter with the octopus, which proved to be irresistibly powerful. Craig, who lives in Cape Town, described to MailOnline Travel the moment when he realised that the octopus was showing signs of friendship. The true star here is not the human. ‘She taught me “octopus language”. South African nature documentary on … He said: ‘Octopuses spend most of their time in their den, because that’s the safest place. When they scan us, humans don’t come up as a prey item. Her onetime den lies a couple of dozen feet off the coast of Cape Town suburb Simon’s Town. ... Cape Town To Jozi For Under R750: You Have Until The End Of The Day To Book A Kulula / BA Special To buy Craig Foster's book, Sea Change, which showcases his work and reveals the art of underwater tracking, visit seachangeproject.com/buy-book/. During his 8-year break from filmmaking, Craig Foster has spent most of his time immersed in the unusual marine wilderness that hides beneath the waters of Cape Town. “Craig Foster, suffering from a loss of purpose, begins a daily diving regimen in the freezing kelp forests at the tip of Africa in order to re-energize himself. Deborah Calmeyer, founder and CEO of luxury holiday firm Roar Africa, swum with Craig in the kelp forests that My Octopus Teacher was filmed in and wrote in a blog about the experience that it was a 'big moment'. He said: ‘The big moment was when she comes out and makes herself completely vulnerable to me. CRAIG FOSTER: Thank you, Sam. ‘They have a whole body language and a skin language – you can tell how they’re feeling. That’s the danger – the big powerful ocean. The documentary seeks to evoke empathy by telling a story about the bond between a human and a wild octopus off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. He first spotted the unusually curious octopus in a calm 200-metre section of kelp forest – an ‘incredible place’ – holding on to multiple shells in a bid to protect itself from an unseen predator. My Octopus Teacher, a feature documentary, by Craig Foster, Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, follows the story of Craig’s year with a wild octopus. Craig Foster is a South African filmmaker who resides in Cape Town and is the human star of My Octopus Teacher. Cape Town - Netflix’s first original South African documentary My Octopus Teacher hopes to inspire local and international interest in the Great African Sea … And then she’d often reach out to make contact. ‘The big predators are surprisingly wary of humans. And what does Craig hope viewers will learn from the documentary? We’re made of the same stuff. He had lost his passion for working on documentaries such as “Blue Planet 2.” He started to document his experiences and, in time, met a curious young octopus that captured his attention. My Octopus Teacher tells the moving story of how Craig Foster came to know an octopus – and the emotional bond that formed when he did Thu 24 … ‘When an animal knows you as an individual, knows you just like your cat or dog knows you and then trusts you because you’ve been there so many times… it’s a huge moment that will always stay as one of my great memories.’. Then the octopus darted away - and Craig was mesmerised. 'So it’s absolutely critical that if we want to stay on the planet as a species, that we get together and figure out how to regenerate that wild system that’s keeping us alive every second.’. ‘We are woven of the same thread. It’s a very rare and mysterious occurrence when somebody gets bitten by a shark.’, Craig said: 'We as human beings are completely part of nature, we are designed and made wild'. The film is ‘an immersive portrait of human–animal understanding, brimming with danger, drama and devastating emotion’. Our first exhibition was an outdoor photographic exhibit on the Sea Point promenade in Cape Town. The Octopus is long gone—octopuses rarely survive more than 18 months in the wild—but her co-star and “student,” filmmaker Craig Foster, still visits her former home in daily dives that are as much about pilgrimage as they are about science. He said: ‘Mostly, what I hope the viewers will get out of it... she taught me that we are inseparable from nature. The best of the west: Nothing compares with an autumn road... Russia's answer to Machu Picchu! He continued: ‘I decided to dive every day, not only to know her but to know the environment, to immerse myself in it and teach myself [underwater] tracking to the highest level I possibly could. I’ve dived with five white sharks in open water and none of them threatened me at all. 'About 10 months ago I had the great fortune of not only meeting Craig for his work with seachangeproject.com, but going swimming with him in these very kelp forests. I’ve dived with five white sharks in open water and none of them threatened me at all. Human kind literally begun in South Africa and Craig says that it is on the shores of South Africa that we became humans in the mind. ‘And then only much later when extraordinary things started to unfold [did the documentary take shape]… and you must realise that when you’re going in every day, I’m seeing many other species as well and having incredible encounters, with otters, with extraordinary exotic fish.’, The kelp forest is home to many types of shark, including great whites, but Craig, pictured here during filming, said that the drive to the coast is a bigger danger than apex marine predators, Mistress of disguise: The octopus displays incredible shape-shifting abilities - her skin able to blend into any environment and even produce little horns, Mollusc mentor: Craig explained that he didn't name the octopus as he didn't want her to become a curiosity or a pet - that she stood as a 'real teacher'. Filming was part of my learning process. Burnt out film maker Craig Foster seeks solace in the ocean. CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - South African nature filmmaker Craig Foster was burned out. Brothers Craig and Damon Foster are widely regarded as South Africa’s top documentary filmmakers. Craig, who lives in Cape Town, described to MailOnline Travel the moment when he realised that the octopus was showing signs of friendship. Foster was the subject, producer, and photographer of a 2020 Netflix Original documentary film called My Octopus Teacher, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 'Britain joined the vaccine marathon in the last mile': Now US's top doctor Fauci accuses UK regulator of not properly scrutinising data before rushing approval through - as bitter EU tells Gavin Williamson to stop gloating 'as if it is a football game', Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, I have dived on a number of occasions with white sharks. They spend 80 to 90 per cent of their time there. 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