Cord Jefferson on ‘American Fiction,’ His Rich and Debate-Ready TIFF Directorial Debut
variety.comDaniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic In December 2020, Cord Jefferson sat down with the novel “Erasure,” by Percival Everett, and saw his life reflected back at him. “It was like someone had written down a Christmas gift for Cord,” he says.
So he did the first thing a professional screenwriter might do — he tried to find a way to get the rights. “Erasure,” first published in 2001, concerns an ambitious author facing down family and personal crises as he struggles to find a foothold in a literary establishment that seems to have no place for him. “I have two siblings, and one of my siblings was at home taking care of my sick mother while I was pursuing my writing ambitions,” he recalls. “And the things the novel was speaking about in terms of in relation to what this country expects from Black novelists — those are conversations I’ve been having with my friends for literally decades.” But despite Jefferson’s intimate connection to the material, he suspected getting the rights from Everett might be a heavy lift: “I was nervous to approach him,” he says, “because I had heard he had said no to people adapting his work in the past.” His fears were unfounded; Everett gave his blessing to Jefferson to write a script without paying for the rights — they’d work it out later if it came together.
Now, “American Fiction,” Jefferson’s debut feature as screenwriter and director, premieres Friday night at the Toronto International Film Festival.
While distributor MGM declined to screen the film for trade journalists ahead of its premiere, it’s fair to say that the source material is rich, dense — and potentially controversial.
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