'Searching For Sugar Man' Director Malik Bendjelloul Dead at 36

Malik Bendjelloul, the director who won a Best Documentary Feature Oscar for 2012's Searching For Sugar Man, has died suddenly at age 36. While no cause of death was reported, local police in Stockholm, where the late director was found dead, are reportedly not treating the death as suspicious.

Bendjelloul's Oscar win for Searching For Sugar Man was the culmination of a long story about the personal search for reclusive musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, who recorded a pair of albums in the early 1970s as Rodriguez before fading into obscurity. However, little did the musician know that his albums were hugely influential in South Africa. The film, focused on the search to find Diaz by committed fans, was co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Bendjelloul. He received a considerable amount of acclaim for his work, earning the Audience Award at Sundance in 2012, in addition to receiving awards from the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, the BAFTAs, the National Board of Review and countless other awards-giving bodies.

Our condolences are with Bendjelloul's family and friends at this time. R.I.P.

Via: Deadline

Credit: Daad Magazine