[2] He was the brother of journalist Johar Bendjelloul[6] and the nephew of actors Peter and Johan Schildt.

[7][8] Bendjelloul grew up in central and southern Sweden (Ängelholm)[9] and during the 1990s acted in the SVT TV series Ebba och Didrik as Philip Clavelle.

[7][12] Subsequently, he left the job to direct documentaries on musicians including Elton John, Rod Stewart, Björk and Kraftwerk.

[6] At rush hour on 13 May 2014, Malik Bendjelloul died by suicide when he jumped in front of an oncoming train at the Solna centrum metro station in Stockholm[16] after struggling with depression, as reported by his brother Johar.

[17][18] At the time of his death, he was working on a film project based on Lawrence Anthony's book The Elephant Whisperer.