Joburg Film Festival to Open With Powerful World Premiere of Ernest Cole: Lost & Found

The 7th edition of the Joburg Film Festival (JFF) is in partnership with MultiChoice Group. It is set to kick off next month. The festival will feature the world premiere of the highly-anticipated documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and Found. The festival will take place from March 11-16, 2025. The theme for the seventh edition is “The Golden Thread – Connected Through Stories”

This breathtaking film had its World Premiere at the renowned Cannes Film Festival in France. It won the award for Best Documentary. The film highlights the life and work of one of South Africa’s most prominent and pioneering photographers, Ernest Cole. Directed by internationally acclaimed, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck, the film will open the festival.

Nhlanhla Ndaba, the festival curator, reflects, “This feature explores not only Cole’s incredible body of work but also his tragic and untimely death in exile at the age of 28. This documentary gives exclusive access to his photos. It offers a profound exploration of his legacy. It serves as a long-awaited homecoming for a man whose dream was always to return to South Africa. “From March 11-16, 2025, Johannesburg will be transformed into a buzzing cinematic playground, from dazzling red-carpet premieres to exclusive industry networking. The festival is set to deliver an unforgettable immersive experience for film lovers and professionals alike. The festival will showcase over 60 films from across the globe.

In a world where photography was not yet recognised as a tool for social change, Ernest Cole took it upon himself to document the stark realities of the apartheid era. Despite facing numerous challenges, Cole’s groundbreaking images revealed the often-unseen struggles of ordinary people under the oppressive regime. Today, his photographs are considered some of the most important and poignant visual records of the time.A vast collection of his work was found hidden in a bank vault in Sweden, completely unknown to the world. The collection has since been returned to his family, and a selection of these extraordinary images is currently on display at the Goodman Gallery in Cape Town, showcasing the remarkable depth of Cole’s vision.

JFF 2025 Highlights

• 28 African premieres—spanning both fiction and eye-opening non-fiction films
• 12 world premieres
• Spotlighting student films from top institutions like AFDA, TUT, UCT, and WITS.
• The festival will feature a robust industry programme in Joburg Xchange (JBX), incorporating JBX Business (market), JBX Talks and JBX Youth.

This year’s edition of the Joburg Film Festival will also feature JBX Business (market), JBX Talks and JBX Youth.

Other exciting titles confirmed for this year’s festival:

• BOS, a gripping post-apocalyptic thriller set in a future South Africa, where society is left in ruins, and survivors are forced to confront moral dilemmas and fight for their very survival.
• THE MAN DIED is an autobiographical film based on the powerful prison memoir of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.
• HAPPY – THE TRUE STORY OF HAPPY SINDANE is a world premiere that tells the moving story of a teenage white boy, raised by a Black family, who embarks on a search for his biological white parents.

South African Cinema on the Rise

JFF 2025 proudly shines a spotlight on South African cinema’s global rise with two must-see screenings:

• OLD RIGHTEOUS BLUES, South Africa’s official Oscars submission.
• THE LAST RANGER, an Oscar-nominee.

These screenings mark a monumental moment for local filmmakers, celebrating South Africa’s growing influence in the international film industry.The complete list of films is available on the Joburg Film Festival website.