My Octopus Teacher

Film-maker Craig Foster spent a year studying the undersea wildlife of a South African kelp forest, and this Oscar-winning documentary captures the curious "friendship" he forged with one particular creature. It's extraordinary to see a man and an octopus interact in such an intimate and playful way, and Foster reveals how the experience helped him emerge from his own emotional shell, strengthening the familial bonds with his own son. Naysayers may sneer at the cinema-friendly anthropomorphising (occasionally recalling bygone schmaltzy Disney docs), although the well-researched science and technically impressive production values are up there with the best of David Attenborough's programming. An octopus may have three hearts to confront life's challenges, but a single human heart would have to be very cold indeed not to be charmed by this unconventional spin on buddy-movie tropes.