Ernest Cole documentary wins Cannes prize
Haitian filmmaker, Raoul Peck, honoured late South African photographer, Ernest Cole, in his new documentary that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The documentary jointly won L’Œil d’or along with The Brink of Dreams. Unfortunately, the documentary maker was not able to collect the award in person. The special screening of his new documentary Ernest […]
Haitian filmmaker, Raoul Peck, honoured late South African photographer, Ernest Cole, in his new documentary that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The documentary jointly won L’Œil d’or along with The Brink of Dreams. Unfortunately, the documentary maker was not able to collect the award in person.
The special screening of his new documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and found was warmly received in Cannes. It weaves Ernest‘s photography career with South Africa’s history, placing the audience in the scene by using the present tense in its narration. The photographer collected photos portraying the “casual” daily abuse perpetrated by the Apartheid regime. Cole subsequently resorted to self exile, smuggling his negatives out of the country to the United States where he published the photos in his 1967 book House of Bondage and hoped for a better life.
Peck’s documentary begins on a positive note with archive footage of Ernest Cole stating, ‘I’m sure South Africa will be free’. The tragedy begun with Apartheid continues when Cole does not find a better place in the States. This is palpable in the monotonous narration that betrays a sense of defeat voiced in the line, ‘I am homesick and I can’t return’. Instead of finding his place in the world, Cole becomes depressed, disconnected and disheartened by the racism experienced abroad.
Through the documentary, Cole expresses his fear of being shot while working in the US as worse than fearing arrest in SA.
The French / American documentary is narrated by American actor and rapper LaKeith Stanfield who takes on the role of Ernest Cole with notable mispronunciations of famous South African places like Soweto.
Despite its imperfections, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found offers a powerful tribute to a courageous artist who risked everything to document injustice. By revisiting Cole’s legacy, Raoul Peck not only honours a vital photographic voice but also reflects on the enduring struggles against racism and displacement.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs from the 14-25 of May 2024.