MY OCTOPUS TEACHER FOR FREE

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MY OCTOPUS TEACHER FOR FREE

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper which is available for free to Pick n Pay Smart Shoppers at these Pick n Pay stores. Netflix, in particular, has moved away from traditional documentary modes of storytelling, going вЂњfor a very different approach to wildlife documentariesвЂќ and has focused on вЂњmarginalвЂќ or вЂњsmall local storiesвЂќ, as shown by My Octopus Teacher, he added. The 28-minute South African documentary Tidal, for instance, which was created by UCT film and media students and filmed in Cape Town, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. вЂњWhatвЂ™s interesting about the documentary format is that because itвЂ™s not as commercially orientated towards the cinema, thereвЂ™s far more flexibility around duration,вЂќ Rijsdijk said. Streaming sites such as HBO, Amazon Prime, Showmax and Netflix have also made documentaries of different lengths and formats more accessible to a broader audience.

вЂњYouTube and streaming platforms such as Netflix have given documentaries an enormously wide reach to find an audience that maybe always wanted them, but didnвЂ™t know where to them,вЂќ said Rijsdijk.

Previously, documentaries had limited exposure and were screened mainly at documentary film festivals. The reawakening of the documentary feature could be tied to the вЂњloosening up of distributionвЂќ. Rijsdijk agreed that there has вЂњdefinitelyвЂќ been increased interest, both in South Africa and globally, in documentaries. Several South African documentaries have done well at film festivals recently, including Stroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War, Whispering Truth to Power and Scenes from a Dry City.Дocumentary is seen as вЂњa money-making genre now, which it wasnвЂ™t maybe 15 years agoвЂќ, said Verster. South African documentaries вЂњhave traditionally done better than our fiction filmsвЂќ, but there has also been increased interest, both locally and internationally, in documentaries in recent years, he said.Д¬rime drama Tsotsi was the first South African film to win the Oscar for best international feature film in 2006. Part of My Octopus TeacherвЂ™s success can be attributed to its appeal to the nature film market as well as the social documentary market, said South African director and documentary filmmaker FranГ§ois Verster: вЂњThere is an interest in films that have a crossover between the nature film genre and the social documentary genre.вЂќ вЂњIt shows the international world that there is a strong product coming out of SA.вЂќ вЂњWhen a South African film wins, whether itвЂ™s a documentary or a fiction film, I think itвЂ™s absolutely fantastic,вЂќ said Redelinghuys. My Octopus TeacherвЂ™s success at the Oscars is вЂњa win for the whole countryвЂќ, Miki Redelinghuys, co-chair of the Documentary FilmmakersвЂ™ Association, told DM168.

Hitting вЂњpainstakingly close to homeвЂќ, вЂњit was the perfect lockdown movieвЂќ about nature on oneвЂ™s doorstep, said Rijsdijk. It was released at a time when life had become severely constrained because of the Covid-19 pandemic and people were craving connection. Since its Netflix debut in September last year, the film has won several international awards, including best documentary at the British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) and at the Producers Guild of America awards.

My octopus teacher