Pippa Ehrlich

Pippa Ehrlich is an Oscar and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, journalist and lifelong ocean advocate whose work explores the powerful connection between people and the natural world. Her storytelling weaves together themes of conservation, healing, responsibility and social justice in the face of a rapidly changing planet. Ehrlich is best known for co-directing and editing the critically acclaimed documentary My Octopus Teacher, which captivated global audiences and earned more than 20 international awards—including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Her filmography also includes Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey and My Mercury.

For nearly 20 years, Ehrlich has been freediving in the Great African Seaforest, an experience that has profoundly shaped her creative vision. She is a co-creator and co-host of Back to the Water, a deeply personal podcast project, sparked by a period of personal questioning, that led her to explore the intersection of ocean connection, social justice and post-Apartheid healing in South Africa.

She is a core team member of the Sea Change Project, dedicated to documenting and preserving the kelp forests of Cape Town, and serves on Netflix Sustainability’s Independent Advisory Group, helping guide the future of environmental storytelling on screen. At the heart of her work is a belief that storytelling can transform our relationship with nature—and remind us that we are part of, not apart from, the living world.