Searching For Sugar Man is a Swedish-British documentary film that follows two Cape Town fans who want to find out if the rumored death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true. Rodriguez's music never took off in the United States but had become wildly popular in South Africa.
The film earned a nomination for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards— only thanks to an iPhone app. Really.
Filmed in 8mm, the movie ran out of funding with a few scenes yet to be shot.
Director Malik Bendjelloul reached out to his iPhone and loaded a $1.99 app (8mm Vintage Camera) to finish the final scenes of his documentary.
That last video footage blends in very well from the scenes recorded on expensive 8mm film—well enough that this documentary already won the Best Documentary category at the 2013 BAFTA awards, and the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best international documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and more…
