How to be a big star without even being aware of it. The impressive story of Sixto Rodríguez is told in the fabulous documentary ‘Searching for Sugar Man’.
One of those films that will impress you even if documentaries are not your thing. In fact, you’ll find it hard to believe you’re looking at one given the particular and surprising story that tells, which seems too bizarre to be true. But it was real, and it speaks volumes about how music is capable of travel. All of this is in Searching for Sugar Man.
One of the biggest movie surprises of this century was this documentary by the late Malik Bendjelloul, a Swede who came across a phenomenon as impressive as it was unexpected that connects an unknown musician and South African culture. This is how he tells the extraordinary story of Sixto Díaz Rodríguez, which can be seen for free on the RTVE Play platform.
Sixto Rodríguez was a Detroit folk singer who had a short-lived recording career, having two chart-topping but unreleased albums in the early 1970s. huge cult in southern Africa, becoming a pop music iconbeing a benchmark and serving as an inspiration to future generations that were to come.
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The long rumor that he was dead by suicide caused some fans in the 1990s to search for the truth of their hero’s fate. What follows is a strangely uplifting story, in which they found more than they could have hoped for, as Sixto, a Detroit construction worker, discovered his artistic dreams, which he had considered lost. , They came to become, after all, reality.
What are the chances of becoming a big star and not being even the slightest bit aware that you are? Bendjelloul decides to explore it and finds a fascinating story about how the most honest music can find its place even when the industry doesn’t pay the slightest attention. An incredible collection of coincidences that ended up changing Rodríguez’s life.
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The documentary was met with incredible acclaim since its premiere at independent festivals such as Sundance, which praised his careful way of telling the story and his message about how one is not a prophet in his land. Even though his desire to elevate a perfect myth omitted that the musician also had an impact in Australia, he continues to raise interesting questions about the need for independent circuits.
Thanks to the documentary, Rodríguez experienced a new cult, this time internationally, which led him to tour the world, including Spain at festivals such as the Primavera Sound, and his two albums were rediscovered and claimed. A good brooch that rounds off the experience of the documentary, a gem you shouldn’t miss if you haven’t seen it yet.
You can see Searching for Sugar Man free on RTVE Play.
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