Searching For Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012) was a hidden gem discovered on Amazon Prime. It won the Best Documentary category at the 85th Academy Awards (2012) and a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary at the 66th British Academy Film Awards (2013). The recently deceased American singer-songwriter Rodriguez is the central figure of it.
The documentary is less Americentrist, representing how the Michigan-born musician struggled to sell copies of his first two albums in the US in the 1970s. However, his music broke barriers and gained popularity in Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Ironically, after the success of his documentary, his albums entered the US charts for the first time. He even played at prestigious festivals, including Coachella and Glastonbury.
There was mystery around Rodriguez, especially in a non-globalized era and in South Africa under a controlling government mentioned below. He was not widely known and became a victim of rumours of a premature death at the pinnacle of his career. Instead, he kept a life outside the spotlight in his hometown of Detroit and was unaware of his fame overseas. He worked as a day labourer and started a family. He got a philosophy degree from Wayne State University and became politically active. His eldest daughter, Eva Rodriguez, discovered some South African websites dedicated to him in the late 1990s, and this motivated him to tour there.
Searching for Sugar Man focuses on his impact and relevance in South Africa. Apartheid happened from 1948 to 1994. It started when South African citizens were prohibited from having interracial relations. It was racial segregation under the all-white government of South Africa that dictated non-white South Africans were obligated to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities, and the contact between the two groups of people. Locations were classified according to race. Black citizens were forcefully removed from their homes, restricted, and confined to tribal homelands according to their ethnicity, while whites remained and occupied towns and cities. Moreover, they were not allowed to vote or engage in politics and were reduced to labour for the whites. Perhaps an unfamiliar facet about apartheid was the government’s censorship of material that was considered a threat to them, and all media outlets were state-run.
Gradually, the oppressed developed mounting resistance and rebellion against the oppressive regime. During this tumultuous chapter in history, about-to-be and influential leaders like Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) were born, and Rodriguez. The second was a popular sound in the regime at the households of white Afrikaans. His album "Cold Fact" had many bootleg copies there, and many of his songs were banned because they were considered profanity in the oppressors' eyes. The first anti-apartheid movement groups that derived from rock musicians were inspired by Rodriguez’s escapist and gritty themes. "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" became the white youth unofficial anthems during the protests against apartheid.
The documentary represents the power of music. It transcends geographical barriers and transforms. Today, Rodriguez rests in power. However, his legacy is his music, which will endure indefinitely and continue to reshape its meaning wherever it resonates.
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