Heath Ledger music video debuts 20 months after his death

Actor Heath Ledger poses during a photocall at the 56th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin in this February 15, 2006 file photo.

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - A rap music video directed by the late Australian actor Heath Ledger was posted on video sharing website YouTube on Friday, nearly two years after he died from an accidental drug overdose.

The 3- minute video of a song called "Cause An Effect" by rapper N'Fa, also known as No Fixed Abode, was shot on a single camera in the actor's home garage in Sydney shortly before his death at the age of 28 in January 2008.

It is believed that "Cause An Effect" was the last project over which Ledger had complete creative control (here).

N'Fa, previously known as Nfamas from the Australian hip hop band 1200 Techniques was born in London but raised in Ledger's home town of Perth in western Australia. The pair were childhood friends.

The video "Cause An Effect" features close-ups of N'fa, daubed in black, white and red paint. It was included in a tribute to Ledger shown during the Rome Film Festival earlier this month.

"The idea was to keep it very artistic so that is what we did," N'fa said in an accompanying video (here).

"Heath directed it really well and I was really happy with the outcome ...I know Heath was happy with the work.

"I've often felt uncomfortable talking about working with Heath and making the video but I figure it's necessary to explain the idea behind the work and what we were doing and to show genuine appreciation for his time he gave to me."

Ledger also created music videos for guitarist Ben Drake and U.S. alternative rock band Modest Mouse.

Ledger died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose in his New York apartment in January 2008. In February he won a posthumous Oscar for his supporting role as The Joker in last year's Batman movie "The Dark Knight."

Ledger's final film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," will open in December.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)