Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

Raoul Peck's fascinating documentary about Ernest Cole tells the story of a young photographer who grew up under apartheid and documented the atrocities, but ended up in exile as a homeless person in New York.

The director behind the documentary about James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro, has created another fascinating portrait. This time, the focus is on Ernest Cole, a young South African photographer who was one of the very first to expose the true face of the apartheid regime. He published his only book, House of Bondage, in 1967, forcing him into exile in NYC and Europe for the rest of his life. Peck follows in his footsteps—his anger, his travels, his daily reflections—until his death as a homeless man in New York.

As he says toward the end of the film, «In South Africa, I was afraid of being imprisoned; in the USA, of being shot.» The mystery in Cole’s story unfolded when 60,000 negatives from his collection were found in a bank vault in Stockholm in 2017. How they ended up there is something the documentary may shed light on. The film is part of our celebration of 30 years of democracy in South Africa.

Lasse Skagen

Screen Africa

This film is programmed by guest curator Mosa Mpetha. Mosa is the co-founder of Black Cinema Project.

Director

Raoul Peck (b. 1953) is an award-winning Haitian filmmaker and previous Minister of Culture. Notable works include the war drama Sometimes in April (2015) about the Rwandan genocide, and Academy Award-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro (2016) about activist and writer James Baldwin.

This film is part of