Sea Change Project honoured by Oscar nod for 'My Octopus Teacher'

THE OSCAR nominations were announced on Monday and South African documentary “My Octopus Teacher” bagged a nod.

Other nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category include “Collective”, “Crip Camp”, “The Mole Agent” and “Time”.

Following the news, the Sea Change Project said it was delighted that “My Octopus Teacher” was being recognised at the highest level among many excellent documentary contenders.

And they hope that this prestigious nomination inspires South Africans to love and protect the Great African Seaforest.

Co-founder of Sea Change Project Craig Foster said: “While it is very exciting to be nominated for an Oscar, and an honour to be representing South Africa on that list, what has been most exciting and fulfilling for us as an organisation has been the feedback we have received since the film was released on Netflix last year.

“We have received thousands of messages from people around the world, of all ages, who have loved the film.”

The director of the documentary, Pippa Ehrlich, also said: “To be nominated for an Oscar feels completely overwhelming and surreal.

“We spent many years working away in an attic on the tip of Africa, and being recognised by a global community like this is incredible.”

Last week, “My Octopus Teacher” also received a Bafta nomination.

Foster and writers and directors Ehrlich and James Reed are up against Alexander Nanau ("Collective") Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey ("David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet"); Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen ("The Dissident"); and Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes ("The Social Dilemma").

Filmed in Cape Town, the documentary chronicles the unusual bond that forms between Foster, who is the director and co-founder of the Sea Change Project, when he stumbles upon an octopus while on his usual daily dive in the Atlantic Ocean.