Malik Bendjelloul (14 September 1977 – 13 May 2014) was a Swedish documentary filmmaker, journalist and actor.[2][3] He directed the 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, which won an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.[4][5]
Bendjelloul was born in Ystad in Sweden, 55 kilometres (34 mi) east of Malmö, the son of Algerian-born physician Hacène Bendjelloul and Swedish translator and painter Veronica Schildt Bendjelloul.[2] He was the brother of journalist Johar Bendjelloul[6] and the nephew of actors Peter and Johan Schildt.[7][8] Bendjelloul grew up in central and southern Sweden (Ängelholm)[9] and during the 1990s acted in the SVT TV series Ebba och Didrik as Philip Clavelle.[6][10] The episodes were directed by his uncle, Peter Schildt.[7] Bendjelloul was educated at the Rönne Gymnasium in Ängelholm, where he entered the social science programme. He graduated in 1996.[7] He then attended Kalmar University, where he studied journalism and media production.[10][11]
Bendjelloul started his television career as a reporter on Swedish public television (SVT), where he worked as a freelancer and journalist for Kobra. Prior to working for SVT, he also worked for an independent production company, Barracuda Film & TV.[7][12] Subsequently, he left the job to direct documentaries on musicians including Elton John, Rod Stewart, Björk and Kraftwerk.[10]
Bendjelloul's documentary Searching for Sugar Man won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[13][14] Bendjelloul also won the 2013 BAFTA Award, Directors Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, American Cinema Editors, the Sundance audience and special jury accolades[15] and the 2012 International Documentary Association awards. Eventually, the documentary achieved commercial success as well and made $3.6 million (£2.7 million) at the box office. The film documents the revival of Sixto Rodriguez's musical career.[10]
In 2013, Bendjelloul was invited to host a show on the Swedish radio show Sommar i P1, where he told the listeners about the process behind Searching for Sugar Man.[6]
At rush hour on 13 May 2014, Malik Bendjelloul died by suicide when he jumped in front of an oncoming train at the Solna centrum metro station in Stockholm[16] after struggling with depression, as reported by his brother Johar.[17][18] At the time of his death, he was working on a film project based on Lawrence Anthony's book The Elephant Whisperer.[19]
