10. “American Fiction”
Cord Jefferson knows his way around the American media landscape better than most — the first-time filmmaker’s resume includes everything from journalism stints at Gawker and The New York Times Magazine, an Emmy-winning writing gig on lauded TV series “Watchmen,” and a consultant job on no less than “Succession” — but his first film hints at an understanding of our greatest institutions and our basest cultural impulses that goes beyond just those mediums. For his TIFF People’s Choice Award winner, Jefferson adapted Percival Everett’s seemingly predictive 2001 novel “Erasure” into a scathing social satire that seems destined to spark conversations for years to come.
Jefferson gathered a stellar cast for the feature: a never-better Jeffrey Wright stars as beleaguered professor and underappreciated writer Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, and he’s joined by everyone from Tracee Ellis Ross to Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown to John Ortiz, Adam Brody to Leslie Uggams, as they navigate a story that feels almost too funny to be true. Monk, disturbed by the lack of respect his high-brow literature has afforded him, jokingly writes the kind of poverty porn that most audiences seem to expect from Black writers and then finds himself the toast of book town. Oops! But Jefferson also weaves in compelling dramatic bits as well, going deeper into Monk’s own self-loathing as he grapples not just with ill-gotten fame, but a changing family, an unexpected new romance, and the revelation that more people see him (and through him) than he’s willing to allow. It’s a smart, sharp debut, and the beginning of yet another fruitful career for Jefferson. —KE