The Oscar Documentaries, Part 2:<br>'Searching for Sugar Man'

February 15, 2013 - 7:37am
In 1970, a singer named Rodriguez released an album called "Cold Fact." It got some good reviews but sold next to nothing, and within a few years he had returned to life as a laborer in Detroit. But in South Africa he became a major star. The story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Searching for Sugar Man."
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Over the next week on Art Beat, we're talking to all of the filmmakers who have been nominated this year for an Oscar in the category of Best Documentary Feature: David France, director of "How to Survive a Plague"; Malik Bendjelloul ("Searching for Sugarman"); Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi ("5 Broken Cameras"); Kirby Dick ("The Invisible War"); and Dror Moreh ("The Gatekeepers").

In 1970, a singer-songwriter going by the name Rodriguez released an album called "Cold Fact." It got some good reviews but sold next to nothing, and within a few years Rodriguez had returned to life as a laborer in Detroit.

But in a kind of strange celestial fluke his music was heard and caught on -- big -- in South Africa, where he became a major star, as well-known as the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. The South Africans, though, knew little or nothing about the man, Rodriguez. And he, it turns out, had no idea of his status in South Africa.

The story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Searching for Sugar Man." I recently spoke to its director Malik Bendjelloul by phone about the film -- his first -- and the man Rodriguez:

A transcript will be posted soon.

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