Cold Open · Essay · jan 14, 2025

Raoul Peck on Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (2025)

Raoul Peck — director of I Am Not Your Negro — has spent his career excavating the history that official archives prefer to leave buried. His documentary on Ernest Cole, South Africa's first apartheid-era photographer whose life ended in mysterious exile, is both intimate and structurally bold: a meditation on what images cost to make and what happens to the person who makes them. Speaking with Elliot, Peck draws connections between apartheid South Africa, contemporary systems of segregation, and the ongoing question of whether documentary cinema can do justice to lives lived under state violence.

By Admin

Film Journalist · Celebrating Cinema

A fearless voice against systemic injustice, Raoul Peck has crafted a body of work that interrogates the legacies of colonialism, racism, and power with unflinching clarity. In this episode, Peck joins our producer Elliot to discuss his latest film, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, an intimate exploration of South Africa’s first apartheid-era photographer. Reflecting on Cole’s haunting images, Peck draws striking parallels between apartheid South Africa, modern systems of segregation, and the enduring consequences for those displaced.

Peck’s films stand as a testament to the radical potential of cinema to confront, reimagine, and connect the world’s entrenched narratives. He leaves us with a powerful reminder: “The world will be what each one of us lets it be. If we don’t act, our inaction will shape the future.”

Book tickets to ⁠Ernest Cole: Lost and Found⁠

Book tickets to ⁠The Raoul Peck Collection

Get tickets to ⁠CC Film Club: Juice⁠

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