''Searching for Sugar Man'' is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by
Malik Bendjelloul
Malik Bendjelloul (14 September 1977 – 13 May 2014) was a Swedish documentary filmmaker, journalist and former child actor.Rohter, Larry (20 July 2012)Retrieved 26 February 2013.Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to find out whether the rumoured death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Rodriguez's music, which had never achieved success in the United States, had become very popular in South Africa, although little was known about him in that country.
On 10 February 2013, the film won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary at the 66th British Academy Film Awards in London and two weeks later, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood.
Production
Initially using Super 8 film to record stylised shots for the film, director
Malik Bendjelloul
Malik Bendjelloul (14 September 1977 – 13 May 2014) was a Swedish documentary filmmaker, journalist and former child actor.Rohter, Larry (20 July 2012)Retrieved 26 February 2013.iPhone
app
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Computing
* Application software
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* Adjusted Peak Performan ...
called 8mm Vintage Camera.
Release
''Searching for Sugar Man'' was the opening film at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
in January 2012, where it won the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best international documentary. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2012, and had a limited release (New York and Los Angeles) in the United States the following day.
''Searching for Sugar Man'' performed well during its theatrical release, earning $3,696,196 at the US box office (47th of all US docs on Box Office Mojo).
Reception
Critical response
''Searching for Sugar Man'' has received widespread critical acclaim. The film holds a 95% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8/10, based on reviews from 133 critics. The site's critical consensus reads, "A fascinating portrait of a forgotten musical pioneer, ''Searching for Sugar Man'' is by turns informative and mysterious." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film a glowing four-star review, writing "I hope you're able to see this film...and yes, it exists because we need for it to." '' The New York Times'' critic Manohla Dargis also wrote a positive review, calling the film "a hugely appealing documentary about fans, faith and an enigmatic Age of Aquarius musician who burned bright and hopeful before disappearing." Dargis subsequently named ''Searching for Sugar Man'' one of the 10 best films of 2012.
Criticism
The film's narrative of a South African story about an American musician omits that Rodriguez was successful in Australia in the 1970s and toured there in 1979 and 1981. Because of this omission some critics have called the documentary "myth-making". However, the film focuses on his mysterious reputation in South Africa and the attempts of music historians there to track him down in the mid-1990s. South Africans were unaware of his Australian success due to the harsh censorship enacted by the apartheid regime coupled with international sanctions that made any communication with the outside world on the subject of banned artists virtually impossible.
Awards and nominations
* ''Searching for Sugar Man'' won the Best Documentary category at the 85th Academy Awards. Rodriguez declined to attend the award ceremony as he did not want to overshadow the filmmakers' achievement if he came up on stage with them. Upon accepting his award, producer Simon Chinn remarked on such generosity, "That just about says everything about that man and his story that you want to know." However, Malik Bendjelloul also said on stage, "Thanks to one of the greatest singers ever, Rodriguez."
* The film also won the Best Documentary category at the 66th British Academy Film Awards on 10 February 2013.
* The Directors Guild of America awarded the
DGA Award
The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards.
Categ ...
PGA Award
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...
for best documentary.
* The
American Cinema Editors
Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the post-nominal ...
awarded the ACE Eddie Award for best documentary.
* It won the Guldbagge Award for Best Documentary at the
48th Guldbagge Awards
The 48th Guldbagge Awards ceremony, presented by the Swedish Film Institute, honored the best Sweden, Swedish 2012 in film, films of 2012 and took place January 21, 2013, at Cirkus (Stockholm), Cirkus in Stockholm. During the ceremony, the jury pr ...
International Documentary Association
International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...
(IDA) awarded ''Searching for Sugar Man'' Best Feature and Best Music at the 28th Annual IDA Documentary Awards on 7 December 2012 at the Directors Guild of America building, Los Angeles, California.
* It also won Best Documentary during Critics' Choice Awards – ''Searching for Sugar Man''
* ''Searching for Sugar Man'' won the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best international documentary at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
Moscow International Film Festival
The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...
.
* At the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam held in November 2012, ''Searching for Sugar Man'' won both the Audience and the Best Music Documentary awards.
* Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) ''Searching for Sugar Man'' was awarded $50,000 (US) where the film shared the "Best of the Fest" audience award with the Chinese feature film ''Full Circle''.
* Best Film (The Audience Award) at
Vilnius International Film Festival The Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF) Kino pavasaris is a film festival held annually in March in Vilnius, Lithuania since 1995, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films and audience. It is one of the most anticipa ...
* Best Film—In-Edit Festival in Santiago de Chile
* The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking has nominated ''Searching for Sugar Man'' for five awards, tying with ''The Imposter'' for the most nominations. Winners of the 6th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be announced on 9 January 2013 as Cinema Eye returns for a third year to New York City's Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, New York.
** Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking—Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
** Production—Simon Chinn
** Graphic Design and Animation—Oskar Gullstrand, Arvid Steen
** Debut Feature Film—Malik Bendjelloul
** Audience Choice Prize—Malik Bendjelloul
The film was also the recipient of the
Australian Film Critics Association
The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA), formerly Melbourne Film Critics’ Forum, is an Australian professional association
A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional socie ...
award for Best Documentary of 2012, beating locally produced musical documentary ''
All the Way Through Evening
''All The Way Through Evening'' is a 2011 documentary film that chronicles pianist and concert producer Mimi Stern-Wolfe as she prepares for her annual concert of music written by New York City composers lost to HIV/AIDS. Dubbed The Benson AIDS S ...
''.
Soundtrack
''Searching for Sugar Man'' is a 2012 soundtrack album from the documentary containing a compilation of songs by Rodriguez from his two studio albums. It reached No. 3 in Sweden in early 2013 when the Academy Award nomination was announced, and had been in the charts for 26 weeks by the time it received the award in February 2013. In Denmark it reached No. 18 and in New Zealand it reached No. 24.