Searching for Sugar Man

The BAFTA and Oscar-winning documentary sensation uncovers the mystery behind Sixto Rodriguez, a forgotten musical hero of apartheid-era South Africa.

The runaway documentary success, winner of BAFTA and Academy Awards for Best Documentary, follows the journey of two Cape Town fans of Sixto Rodriguez, a forgotten American musician whose 1960s counter-cultural songs became anti-apartheid anthems in South Africa.

Inspired by the internet-age incongruity of a South African superstar who seems to be completely unknown elsewhere in the West, Stephen Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom set out to uncover the truths about the enigmatic guitarist, who was long rumoured to have died in dramatic circumstances. Malik Bendjelloul’s astonishing documentary is rarely forgotten by those who’ve seen it; especially for viewers entering the story without foreknowledge. A labour of love filmed over several years, Searching For Sugar Man cannily pieces together a captivating story of redemption and resurrection.