Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Ernest Cole, a South African photographer was the first to expose the horrors of apartheid to a world audience. His book House of Bondage, published in 1967 when he was only 27 years old, led him into exile in NYC and Europe for the rest of his life, never to find his bearings. Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) recounts his wanderings, his turmoil as an artist and his anger, on a daily basis, at the silence or complicity of the Western world in the face of the horrors of the Apartheid regime. He also recounts how, in 2017, 60,000 negatives of his work were discovered in the safe of a Swedish bank.
Festivals & awards
Cannes 2024: Å’il d'or du meilleur documentaire
Césars 2025: nommé pour le meilleur documentaire
Visions du Réel 2025: Raoul Peck, invité d'honneur
Credits
In cinemas
Delémont
Fribourg
Genève
Lausanne
Neuchâtel
Pro Material
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Press voices
«A heartbreaking elegy to the photographer, and a kind of mystery. Eloquently edited and structured, Peck has crafted another timely documentary which should spark conversations about the crushing impact of intolerance.» Screen
«Un film passionnant où les clichés d’Ernest Cole semblent s’animer sous nos yeux.» L'Humanité
«Une puissante enquête où images et témoignages révèlent le regard et la souffrance d’un 'homme noir' doublement victime de la ségrégation.» Bulles de culture
«A powerful testament. A reflection on the enduring nature of white supremacy and the power of visual storytelling in the fight for justice.» Deadline
«Documentaire d’une puissance inouïe, Ernest Cole, photographe relie l’histoire d’un homme à celle de tous les hommes victimes des inégalités et des exclusions.» La Septième Obsession
«La courte vie, racontée par ses clichés, d’un des plus grands photographes de l’apartheid.» Les Inrocks
«Peck’s film stands as a requisite biography, but also a personal homage: The response of one politically conscious artist to the call of another.» New York Times
«The anti-apartheid photographer who turned his lens on Black America.» CNN