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Storyville

Searching for Sugar Man

Duration: 1 hour, 15 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC FourLatest broadcast: on BBC Four HD

Oscar-winning documentary which tells the remarkable story of the American rock icon who never was. With a great soundtrack, moving interviews and a breathtaking twist, this is the ultimate film about the resonating power of music.

In the late 60s, Detroit-based singer Sixto Rodriguez was momentarily hailed as the finest recording artist of his generation. But when his album bombed, he disappeared into oblivion amid rumours of a gruesome onstage suicide. The film tells the astonishing story of how a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and became a phenomenon. Two South African fans turned detectives to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation led them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez. This is a film about hope, inspiration and the realisation of deferred dreams.

The film is directed by Malik Bendjelloul who sadly died in May 2014. Show less

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