There is no "facade" or "myth" perpetrated by the filmmakers. His fame and popularity in SA grew in a pre-internet age during the closed-society era of Apartheid. From the mid-70s, when his popularity in SA began to take off, until the late-90s, when he was located by SA fans through the "Have You Seen This Man?" web site, there was little chance of easy detective work. The two albums were out of print in the US. Rodriguez had friends in Detroit who knew nothing of his music. He ran for City Council as one of many candidates, so there would be little, if any, press coverage of him in Detroit, let alone coverage of his aborted music career.
As far as a few concerts in Australia (as an opening act, if memory serves), Rodriguez likely received little press in Australia, opening acts usually go unmentioned by reviewers. It is not surprising that citizens of SA did not read or hear anything about these shows.
I thought the film was quite good. While it was edited so as to maximize the narrative's impact, the story was genuine and the music seems to have stood the test of time. Rodriguez is finally gaining an audience in his own country (a recent Chicago gig sold out very quickly), as well as royalties for sales. The film soundtrack assures that Rodriguez will gain more fans.
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