von Adrian Schraeder
Wunderschön, wenn man sich als Journalist aussuchen kann, wen man interviewen will. Ich bin mehrheitlich in dieser Position. So kann ich die Fragen stellen, die mich wirklich umtreiben.
An den schwedischen Regisseur Malik Bendjelloul, Mann hinter dem Überraschungserfolg "Searching For Sugar Man", hatte ich gleich eine ganze Reihe von Fragen. Er hatte in seinem Film die Geschichte des lange Zeit verkannten Singer/Songwriters Sixto Rodriguez aus Detroit erzählt. Und zwar so, dass sich ein imposanter Stimmungsbogen ergab. Der Moment, in dem der in Südafrika ohne sein Wissen zum Superstar avancierte Sänger schlussendlich im Film auftaucht und selbst zu Wort kommt, ist grandios, die Story erstklassig. Der Dokfilm wurde weltweit zum Geheimtipp und Sixto Ridriguez tourt – allerdings völlig ausser Form – um den Erdball.
Bendjellouls Film war vor wenigen Wochen auf SRF 1 zu sehen. Ich nahm dies zum Anlass ein Interview mit dem 36-Jährigen aufzugleisen. Auf der Medienstelle des SRF verwies man mich an den Basler Filmverleih Cineworks. Ein Interview? Das solle kein Problem sein, hiess es. Also setzte ich schriftlich einige Fragen auf und schickte sie direkt an Bendjelloul. Doch trotz Zusage und mehrfachem Nachhaken meldete er sich nie.
Am Mittwoch dann die Nachricht: Malik Bendjelloul ist tot. Meine Fragen blieben unbeantwortet. Den Nachfolge-Projekten seines Erfolgsfilms hat der von Depressionen geplagte Filmemacher selbst ein Ende gesetzt.
- I guess I have to start with this simple question: How did your life change with the success of "Searching For Sugar Man"? How did your life change with the Oscar?
- Like everyone else I was blown away by the movie. By both actually: The story and the execution. It’s just a magic moment, when you finally get to see Rodriguez. How was that for you? Does the movie also represent your journey to find Rodriguez?
- You found the story in 2006 while travelling through Africa and South America with your camera. How does this hunt for stories exactly work? Would you recommend it? Did you find some other interesting stories?
- Do you think that music lovers are interesting storytellers in general?
- You said in a lot of interviews, that the elements of a narrative were all there. There were almost too many. Did you leave stuff out in order to make the story more exciting? (for example you don’t mention that South Africa wasn’t the only country where he was secretly successful)
- How can you tell when a story is good enough to sacrifice a couple of years of your life for it (this one obviously was…)?
- I suppose it took a while to complete the movie. With a story that surprising and unique: Weren’t you afraid that some other journalist would break the story before your movie is finished?
- How did you finance it?
- Now that you’re an award-winning director: Has financing your projects become a lot easier?
- The comparison to Bob Dylan pops up a couple of times in the movie. From your point of view: Is that justified? Does Rodriguez play in the same league?
- In your acceptance speech you said "thanks to one of the greatest singers ever: Rodriguez“. What do you like about his music so much?
- Rodriguez is touring quite extensively since his rise to fame. I saw him playing live in Montreux last summer. And I must say I was shocked. He didn’t seem like he is in the condition to perform. How do you feel about that?
- I saw a really bad show. He seemed very nervous and scatterbrained. He did quite some harm to his beautiful songs. But the audience was nonetheless very supportive. All because of your movie. You created a hero. Was that the intention?
- No one knows exactly, where the money from these album sales went. The film suggests that the guy from his label got all the money. Is he really the bad guy?
- How hard was it to get him in front of the camera?
- What are you working on at the moment? Did you already find a story as good as Rodriguez’?
