‘American Fiction’ Director Cord Jefferson Talks Breaking Away From Rigid Structures: “Perseverance Is Always The Key For Me” – TIFF Studio

American Fiction

Section: Special Presentation / People’s Choice Award Winner

Director: Cord Jefferson 

Writers: Cord Jefferson

Logline: American Fiction is Cord Jefferson’s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

Distribution: MGM/Orion

Premiere Date: Sept 14, 2023

Panelists: Cord Jefferson

Key Quotes: “There is a limited perception of what Black life looks like. People want you to stay within those confines, and I think perseverance is the key for any creative life. There’s going to be a lot of rejection along the way, and there’s gonna be a lot of people asking you to do things that you don’t want to do for money. Perseverance has always been the key for me when it comes to combating those kinds of rigid structures.”

“When I read Erasure by Percival EverettI felt like it was a gift written specifically for me. There were so many instances of overlap between the story, my  life and my relationship with my siblings and my parents and, a lot of these conversations that book is  having, I was having with my friends, family and colleagues.”