SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN Screening 7th June 2013

Pics and Flicks

presents:

Searching For Sugarman

Genre: Documentary, Biography, Music 
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Producer: Simon Chinn
Cast: As themselves
Classification: M
Duration: 86 mins
Country: South Africa

Release date: 04/10/2012

Review by Margaret Pomeranz
This fascinating documentary begins in South Africa for a reason. The 1970's singer Rodriguez, about whom little is or was known, failed to make an impression in his own country with two admired but unsuccessful albums, but in South Africa during that time, when Apartheid was in full sway, a stray copy of his first album Cold Play found its way there and spread like wildfire in a country cut off from the world.

His songs inspired resistance to Apartheid and he became a cult hero to many, anathema to others.
Rumoured to have died on stage during a performance, either by self-immolation or by a self-inflicted gunshot, a South African journalist went in search of the truth about the Rodriguez. And that's the story of the film. It is a riveting and moving journey with major surprises along the way. And some great music. Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul creates a mysterious world for the elusive Rodriguez in his home town of Detroit, and manages to track down most of the major players in Rodriguez' life. It's a fine documentary, insightful and beautifully cathartic.