This week, you may or may not have heard that a young director, Malik Bendjelloul, committed suicide.  Name sound familiar to you?  I'm betting not, which is unfortunate.  Bendjelloul won an Oscar for his one and only film, a documentary called Searching for Sugar Man.



Do yourself a favor and watch this documentary over the weekend.  Searching for Sugar Man follows two South African fans of the American music artist Sixto Rodriguez.  Although he didn't find much success in the United States, Rodriguez gained a huge following across Africa, especially South Africa, where incredible rumors swirled about his supposed death and suicide. 

The search for the truth about Rodriguez is compelling, and the things they discover about the artist and his life are in turns surprising, sad, and heartwarming.  Not to mention, his music is legit-- very 70s folk-rocksy.  Bonus points for being a Detroiter.

Definitely check this documentary out.  Your life will be better for spending a couple hours learning about this fascinating musician and what happened to him after success alluded him in the U.S. while, unbeknownst to him, he became more popular than Elvis in South America.  You can thank me later.