Cork Cine Clubpresents the 2013 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary, SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN, on Thursday 14 March at 8pm in St. John’s Central College.
Mexican-American singer Sixto Rodriguez was the greatest 1970s folk-rock icon who never was. Despite critical praise, his albums bombed in the U.S., and he faded promptly into obscurity, leaving behind only urban legends of a gruesome onstage suicide.
But somehow a bootleg copy of his album made its way to apartheid South Africa, where his anti-establishment message and distinctive sound resonated with the youth protest movement there, making Rodriguez an instant superstar.
Decades later, two intrepid fans decide to investigate whatever happened to the mysterious rocker. While initially frustrated by a dearth of leads, they eventually trace his roots to 1970s Detroit and a producer named Mike Theodore, who drops a bombshell that completely changes the nature of their investigation.
Truly stranger than fiction, this story of a singer from Detroit and his unforeseen success spans decades and continents, and is aptly unraveled to the soundtrack of Rodriguez’ own haunting original songs. SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN is a film about hope, inspiration and the resonating power of music.
A short film, PATIENCE, will be shown before the documentary. It is a Cork-made film featuring an original song by Frank and Walters and a cast including Mick Moriarty, the Baldy Barber of Blackpool.
Director: Malik Bendjelloul. UK, 2012. 85 minutes. Cert: CLUB. Language: English
Other Cork Cine Club films to be shown in St. John’s Central College on Thursdays at 8pm are FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD (Albania) on 21 March; THE GIANTS (Belgium) on 11 April; A SIMPLE LIFE (China) on 18 April.
Please note there are no films on 28 March or 4 April. Shorts may be shown before the feature film.
See www.corkcineclub.com, Facebook and Twitter for trailers, reviews and more. Tickets, €8.50/€7 (includes Cine Club membership), are sold at the door. Foreign language films are subtitled.
Cork Cine Club is supported by access>CINEMA, a resource organization for regional cultural cinema, and by The Arts Council of Ireland.
Sixto Rodriguez in the 1970s
Cork Cine Club
