Ernest Cole, Lost And Found

Source: Magnolia Pictures/Dogwoof

‘Ernest Cole, Lost And Found’

Raoul Peck’s winner of the Cannes documentary prize Ernest Cole: Lost And Found is to be released in the UK and Ireland by Dogwoof.

The documentary distribution and sales specialist is eyeing a theatrical release towards the end of the year, ahead of the 2025 awards season. France’s mk2 Films represents international sales.

Ernest Cole: Lost And Found premiered in special screenings at Cannes and won the L’OEil d’Or prize jointly with Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir’s The Brink Of Dreams. It charts the life of Ernest Cole, a South African photographer who was the first to expose the horrors of apartheid to a world audience. His book House Of Bondage, published in 1967 when he was only 27 years old, led him into exile in New York City and Europe for the rest of his life.

The documentary follows Cole as he recounts his turmoil and horror at the Apartheid regime, with actor LaKeith Stanfield voicing Cole for the English-language version of the film.

Haitian filmmaker Peck also produces, alongside Tamara Rosenberg, Olivier Père and Rémi Grellety.

Magnolia Pictures will release in North America. 

“As longstanding admirers of Raoul Peck’s work, it’s an honour to add him to the list of filmmakers Dogwoof has worked with,” said Oli Harbottle chief content officer at Dogwoof. “By turns both a deeply poignant portrait and an unravelling detective mystery, Ernest Cole: Lost And Found invites audiences to discover the work of an artist whose commitment to exposing the truth led him to sacrifice so much of his life.”

Dogwoof’s other recent UK-Ireland acquisitions include Sundance 2024 doc Agent Of Happiness, which examines Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness policy, and No Other Land, which offers an insider view of a West Bank community, and debuted at this year’s Berlinale, winning the Panorama audience award for best documentary film and the Berlinale documentary film award. Both films will receive their UK premieres at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June.