Malik Bendjelloul's Searching for Sugarman (2012) plays on the contrasts between the voices and streetscapes of Detroit and South Africa. The film creates a sense of place as it tells the story of a singer-songwriter, Sixto Rodriguez. His unpopularity as a musician in the United States is echoed in his spartan surroundings in wintry Detroit. A world away, beauty shots of the South African landscape and legions of admiring Rodriguez fans deepen the emotional impact of the narrative. Above, Rodriguez and his three daughters, whose interviews are intercut with the those of the determined South Africans who rediscovered him.
