ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND

The Œil d'Or for best documentary at Cannes, Lost and Found unearths the political commitment and personal tragedy of South African photojournalist Ernest Cole, a pioneer in showing the world what apartheid looked like and, while in exile, portraying the racial segregation in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Raoul Peck, filmmaker and social justice activist, applies audiovisual strategies similar to those used in his acclaimed I Am Not Your Negro to move beyond a mere biographical sketch, letting the protagonist speak through his images and words (and the voice of actor, poet and rapper LaKeith Stanfield). The unexpected discovery of 60,000 negatives of Cole’s work in a Swedish bank safe serves as the catalyst for this poignant tribute, juxtaposing past and present, as intolerance remains ever present.