How to accidentally become a legend
YES
Release date: January 19, 2012
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Language: English
Who should watch this movie: People who like happy endings. Musicians.
When should you watch this movie: When you want to impress the cool guitar player you just started dating
The sell: This movie tells a highly unlikely story. The premise is so outlandish, it could easily be fiction, and yet it is documentary through and through. Well, perhaps not through and through. The film’s subject is musician Sixto Rodríguez (stage name Rodríguez) who, while selling next to no records domestically, became an overnight sensation in South Africa. The catch is that for decades, he had no idea. Dispersed through the film are music videos to his hit songs. Exploring why this Detroit based artist was able to speak so meaningfully to a South African audience, while also interrogating the exploitative strategies employed by his record label, this movie is an incredible work of storytelling and music journalism.
Should You Watch This Movie? 