Oscars 2021: My Octopus Teacher wins Best Documentary Award

Heartwarming documentary was surprise win for Netflix

Film - Awards Season

Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher has won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

The film, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, beat out strong competition in its category, with other nominees including Time, Crip Camp and Collective.

The heartwarming documentary revolves around the South African filmmaker Craig Foster, who befriends an octopus while exploring the watery depths beneath a kelp forest near Cape Town.

Foster said his relationship with the octopus taught him about life’s fragility and our collective connection with nature, and even helped him become a better father.

The film became a sleeper hit, earning a Directors Guild of America nomination, then an Oscar nod, a BAFTA award and was named top documentary at the Producers Guild of America Awards.

A number of famous fans have endorsed the sweet story on social media.

“I really recommend this movie,” comedian Amy Schumer wrote Instagram. Brittany Snow chimed in on Schumer’s post that she’s “never cried more,” and Justin Theroux added: “Concur. Had me in tears. Bye calamari.”

Zach Braff wrote that the film “will cleanse your brain’s palate from the overwhelming dread and ennui and melancholia it may or may not be feeling.”

Other major winners at tonight’s Oscars include acting wins for Daniel Kaluuya and Yuh-jung Youn, and multiple awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Keep up to date with all the latest developments from tonight’s Oscars here.