My Octopus Teacher (2020)

As a documentary, this little film is perfect. From our usual limited perspective (meaning, on dry land), we presume to be the Masters of the Universe. But, underwater, we are just observers, normally. Welcome to a new horizon, folks: welcome to her world.

The film takes us through the year of this octopus’ life (for that’s the length of it normally). The tentative (and curious) approach by the creature’s tentacles may be a metaphor of how we are to alien species who seek to observe us. And, if I’m being honest, the full-on embrace of this octopus was a revelation. There were only two times that she rested on his chest, but that second time was just before she went through the final purpose of her short existence: procreation. I suspect she knew it was the last time that she could get close to this human.

That moment was heartfelt.

Penguin Bloom (2020)

I love magpies: they are intelligent and they are ‘real’ in the sense that they know “stuff”.

This film is based on a true story (so not a documentary). The magpie, named Penguin by the Bloom children, provides the inspiration for a paraplegic woman to start to live her life again.

It is a privilege to witness the developing relationship between the Bloom family and Penguin, even when told through the medium of cinema. The bird adopted the Blooms, not the other way around, and that why I’m linking these two films together. We are One family.