Fresh off the film's selection as the People's Choice Award at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, writer/director Cord Jefferson stops by Studio 9 to discuss the film's origins; the challenges of adapting the book to the big screen; his cinematic influences - from HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE to BAMBOOZLED to THE SQUID AND THE WHALE; and the difficulty (and importance) of creating a film about race that you can also laugh at. Jeffrey Wright stars in Cord Jefferson’s adaptation of Percival Everett’s Erasure — a wicked satire about the commodification of marginalized voices and a portrait of an artist forced to re-examine his integrity. Adapted from Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut is a wildly entertaining send-up of our hunger for so-called authenticity. Featuring stellar supporting turns from Issa Rae and Erika Alexander, and a string of cheeky cameos, American Fiction is a timely reflection on the fictions we tell ourselves about race, progress, and community. Captured in Studio 9, TIFF's Official Interview Suite, powered by Canon. For more about the Toronto International Film Festival and our year-round programming TIFF Lightbox, visit http://tiff.net. Subscribe to watch more TIFF Originals: https://www.youtube.com/c/tiff Want more TIFF? Find us here: https://www.instagram.com/tiff_net https://www.tiktok.com/@tiff_net https://www.snapchat.com/add/tiff_net https://twitter.com/tiff_net https://www.pinterest.com/tiffnet/ #jeffreywright #americanfiction #oscars2024