LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 25: Marlee Matlin (center) poses with Pippa Ehrlich (L) and James Reed (R), winners of Best Documentary Feature for “My Octopus Teacher”, in the press room during the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 25: Marlee Matlin (center) poses with Pippa Ehrlich (L) and James Reed (R), winners of Best Documentary Feature for “My Octopus Teacher”, in the press room during the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
That’s how we do it! South African aquatic wildlife feature “My Octopus Teacher” won the best documentary at the 2021 Oscars – pulling off a stunning victory in the early hours of Monday morning.
Before the show, stars paused briefly for pictures and socially distanced interviews on what organizers called a “teeny-tiny red carpet,” where actresses Carey Mulligan and Andra Day dazzled fashion fans in Oscars gold.
An honorary award for the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which has supported struggling actors and crew particularly during the pandemic, was awarded at the Oscars’ traditional Hollywood theater base. Black entertainment mogul Tyler Perry was also honored. Tents sheltering everything from Covid testing booths to catering stations.
The unorthodox Oscars ceremony was moved from a Hollywood theater to a glammed-up downtown train station to abide by strict Covid-19 protocols, and reunited Tinseltown A-listers for the first time in more than a year. However, despite the slightly more modest surroundings, the stage was set perfectly for the crew of My Octopus Teacher.
Pippa Ehrlich accepted the award overnight, paying tribute to her fellow crew members and ‘the South Africans watching back home’. The moving marine-life documentary also won a BAFTA two weeks ago…
“Thank you to the Academy and all our incredible nominees. We’re sure there have been many tears along the way. We want to thank Netflix for enabling us to share our story with the world. Our incredible team have arms that stretch across the planet, from South Africa, to the Netherlands, to the US and the UK.”
“Well done to our friends and family who put up with years and years of our tunnel vision. We know many South Africans are awake back home to watch this ceremony. I just hope this film gave a glimpse of a different kind of relationship human beings can have with the outside world.”
Here are the winners in key categories at the 93rd Academy Awards, which were handed out in Los Angeles on Sunday. Road movie “Nomadland” was the big winner of the night, with prizes for best picture, best director and best actress.
No-show Anthony Hopkins pulled a surprise upset to win best actor in the final award of the night, besting sentimental favorite Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer last year. Netflix’s “Mank” began the night with the most nominations — 10 — but ended for dual wins in technical categories, as did Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.