Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary about forgotten singer turned construction worker Sixto Rodriguez, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary last night.

Rodriguez released two albums in the early Seventies, neither sold particularly well and he disappeared into obscurity. But his 1970 debut album Cold Fact had a unique afterlife: it became a touchstone of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. Search For Sugar Man explores that album’s impact in South Africa and also what became of the singer.

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The film’s success has done much to revive the fortunes of Rodriguez, who played London’s Royal Albert Hall last November and is booked to perform at Glastonbury and Primavera festivals this summer.

Other winners at this year’s Academy Awards were:

BEST PICTURE


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Argo

BEST DIRECTOR


Life Of Pi – Ang Lee




BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained


BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables 


BEST ANIMATED FILM


Brave

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY


Chris Terrio – Argo


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained