The Best Documentary Feature gong for
My Octopus Teacher at this year’s Academy Awards has been seen by many critics as the type of underdog story Oscar loves. The film, directed by Pippa Erlich and James Reed, was—like the other South African-themed documentary to wow the Oscars,
The story of a man and his relationship with an octopus in the cold, cold water off Cape Town’s peninsula triumphed over a number of heavy hitters. These included an exposé of hospital deaths caused by corruption in the Romanian government (
Collective) and the Obama-produced story of the battle for disability rights in the US (