Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
Director:
Malik Bendjelloul
From metacritic.com
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman | ... | Himself - Record Shop Owner | |
| Dennis Coffey | ... | Himself - Co-Producer, Cold Fact 1970 | |
 |
Mike Theodore | ... | Himself - Co-Producer, Cold Fact 1970 |
|
|
Dan DiMaggio | ... | Himself - Bartender, The Brewery |
|
|
Jerome Ferretti | ... | Himself - Bricklayer |
| Steve Rowland | ... | Himself - Producer, Coming from Reality 1971 | |
|
|
Willem Möller | ... | Himself - Musician |
|
|
Craig Bartholomew Strydom | ... | Himself - Music Journalist (as Craig Bartholomew-Strydom) |
|
|
Ilse Assmann | ... | Herself - Former Apartheid Archivist |
|
|
Steve M. Harris | ... | Himself - Teal Trutone |
|
|
Robbie Mann | ... | Himself - RPM Records |
| Clarence Avant | ... | Himself - Former Chairman of Motown Records | |
|
|
Eva Rodriguez | ... | Herself - Rodriguez's Eldest Daughter |
| Rodriguez | ... | Himself (as Sixto Rodriguez) | |
| Regan Rodriguez | ... | Herself - Rodriguez's Youngest Daughter | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
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Storyline
In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career with only two well received but non-selling albums. Unknown to Rodriguez, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon and inspiration for generations. Long rumored there to be dead by suicide, a few fans in the 1990s decided to seek out the truth of their hero's fate. What follows is a bizarrely heartening story in which they found far more in their quest than they ever hoped, while a Detroit construction laborer discovered that his lost artistic dreams came true after all. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Plot Keywords:
songwriter | presumed dead | censorship | search | recording artist |Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some drug references | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
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Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
26 July 2012 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Sugar Man See more »Edit
Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$27,459, 29 July 2012Gross USA:
$3,696,196Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$9,133,597Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Malik Bendjelloul committed suicide on 13 May 2014, allegedly struggling with depression. See more »Goofs
During the credits there is a spelling error - It says "Mabu Vinly" instead of "Mabu Vinyl" See more »Quotes
Rick Emmerson: What he's demonstrated, very clearly, is that you have a choice. He took all that torment, all that agony, all that confusion and pain, and he transformed it into something beautiful. He's like the silkworm, you know? You take this raw material, and you transform it. You come out with something that wasn't there before. Something beautiful. Something perhaps transcendent. Something perhaps eternal. Insofar as he does that, I think he's representative of the human spirit, of what's possible. ...See more »
Connections
Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Ben Affleck/Kristen Bell/Rodriguez (2013) See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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I'm going to add my voice such as it is to the chorus of accolades for "Searching For Sugar Man". I loved it. It is indeed an incredible true story about a folk singer named Rodriquez who became a sensation in South Africa while remaining in obscurity in his native US. He's not the first person to be given the boot in his hometown (the Bible has something to say on this subject) but upon listening to the wonderful soundtrack of this film it is a sad commentary. There's plenty of humor here as well in this tale of parallel universes: one in which Rodriquez is Elvis and another where he's scarcely a blip on the radar. The film begins as an investigation by curious fans seeking to learn about the whereabouts of Rodriquez and what may have happened to him. The stories circulating about him are not promising but they are undaunted and continue to search for answers. I think everyone who sees "Searching For Sugar Man" will be thankful that they did.