Raoul Peck's New Documentary Celebrates Ernest Cole's Legacy as an Anti-Apartheid Photographer

The film, which won Best Documentary at Cannes, explores the life and work of the pioneering South African photojournalist.

Raoul Peck's documentary, 'Ernest Cole, Photographe,' examines the life of Ernest Cole, a black South African photographer who exposed the brutal realities of apartheid in the 1960s.
Cole, forced into exile in 1966, used his camera to document the human toll of apartheid, becoming one of the first to share these images with the world.
The film, released in U.S. theaters in November and now in France, combines Cole's photography with Peck's reflections, offering a politically and artistically rigorous narrative.
Peck, known for 'I Am Not Your Negro,' continues his focus on amplifying black voices and histories often overlooked or distorted by official accounts.
Critics have praised the documentary for its aesthetic precision and its ability to illuminate Cole's groundbreaking work while contextualizing his personal and professional struggles.