On Wednesday, fans and colleagues of director Malik Bendjelloul, known widely for his acclaimed documentary Searching for Sugar Man, were shocked to find out that he had taken his own life.
Malik’s older brother Johar Bendjelloul revealed to Swedish daily Aftonbladet that his little brother took his life Tuesday night after suffering from a short bout of depression.
“Life is not always simple,” Johar said, and added that hearing of his brother’s death was the worst thing that could have ever happened. “I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t know,” he said.
In 2013, Malik rose to fame when he won an Oscar for Searching for Sugar Man. The documentary is about Sixto Rodriguez, a singer and songwriter from Detroit, who becomes a superstar in South Africa after failing in the United States.
Simon Chinn, the British producer that worked on the film, said that he is devastated about the news of his friends tragic death, and revealed that he had just discussed future collaborations with him a couple weeks ago.
“It seems so unbelievable,” Chinn said, during a telephone interview. “I saw him two weeks ago in London. He was so full of life, hope and optimism and happiness, and looking forward to the future and future collaborations. We were talking about working together and talking about specific ideas, so the idea that he is no longer is just too hard to process.”
Image via Wikimedia Commons