A biography for Malik Bendjelloulhasn’t been written yet.
“I don't think 'Sugar Man' is a music doc any more than 'The Social Network' is about computers. It just happens to have the best soundtrack ever.”
“My specialty is two things: music or really strange stories.”
“I was working for a Swedish TV show - I'm Swedish - who basically did kind of spectacular stories. It was almost like CBS '60 Minutes,' but a Swedish version where we actually did travel quite a lot. After a while, I realized that travel is the most fun part of this, so why not do it for a longer time and just go off and explore?”
“If you're an artist, you're an artist; that's the only way I can explain it.”
“The perfect story is one you can retell in three minutes, and every single sentence is interesting.”
“I don't like music docs, usually. There's nothing to really say. What can you say about music? Normally, you can't say too much. There are a few really good ones, but the majorities are boring, I think.”
“I think music docs could turn off some people.”
“Success is not only one thing. It's not only having a nice house in Beverly Hills and driving a nice Mercedes.”
“There's nowhere like Detroit; it's a modern necropolis: all these art deco masterpieces crumbling away.”
“Most music careers slowly but surely go down.”
“There are a few really fantastic stories left, and that kind of gives you some inspiration to find even new ones.”
“The kids growing up in the apartheid era were so restricted and angry - if they spoke out against it, they were thrown in jail.”
“You don't need money to be free. You can just say if you don't need stuff, you're always free.”
“I love music. I think it's a higher art form, in a way, than movies. You know, a film you see once, maybe twice. A song will follow you forever. It's a magical thing.”
“Travel is wonderful. Everyone thinks it's wonderful.”
“I quit my job. I bought myself a real cheap, like, around-the-world flight ticket, and I went to 16 countries for six months just backpacking, living in cheap hostels, looking for stories with a camera and my ex-girlfriend.”