The Oscar-winning director was found dead in Stockholm.
Malik Bendjelloul, the director of Oscar-winning music documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has died aged 36.
He was found dead in Stockholm on Tuesday night, according to Swedish police.
Bendjelloul’s brother told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that the filmmaker committed suicide, after struggling with depression.
Searching for Sugar Man was Bendjelloul’s only credit as a director but it was an staggering start to a seemingly promising career. Centred on the improbable (but true) tale of US singer-songwriter Rodriguez, the film explored how the musician became a cult hero and bestseller in South Africa during Apartheid despite barely selling any records in the US.
The film, which was directed, produced, edited and co-written by Bendjelloul, received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 where it won the audience award and special jury prize. It went on to win prizes all over the world including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the BAFTA for Best Documentary Film.
Screen spoke to the promising director ahead of his Oscar win in which he talked about having “a long list of ideas” for future projects. [Click here for full interview].
Born in Sweden, Bendjelloul acted on television as a child in SVT show Ebba och Didrik in 1990 before studying journalism and TV production. He went on to direct TV documentaries about and with Björk, Kraftwerk, Elton John, Sting and Rod Stewart before his move into features.
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