Cord Jefferson’s Insightful Satire Of Race And Media, ‘American Fiction,’ Lights Up TIFF
TORONTO, Ontario — Cord Jefferson wanted to turn Percival Everett’s “Erasure” into a film script after 50 pages. Halfway through, he noticed Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, the book’s intellectual protagonist. He knew he wanted to direct it by the time he was completed.
Cord Jefferson, the 41-year-old TV writer of “Succession,” “Master of None,” and “Watchmen,” began work on his directorial debut, “American Fiction,” almost immediately. Similarly, following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, “American Fiction” quickly became the festival’s breakout smash, establishing Jefferson as a prominent new voice in film.
Monk (Wright) is a disgruntled author whose agent (John Ortiz) tells him his writings — the most recent of which is a rewriting of Aeschylus’ “The Persians” — aren’t “Black enough.” “I’m Black,” he says, “and this is my book.”
Monk, played by Wright with sardonic precision and amusing contempt, writes as a drunken lark, a book meant to spoof the kinds that sell and appeal to white audiences’ perceptions of Black people. Under the pen name Stagg R. Leigh, he scribbles a thug life trauma porn named “My Pafology” that, surprise, sells and is bought for movie rights.
“All of the conversations that the book was having were conversations I was having with my friends and had been having for decades,” Jefferson, who worked as an editor for Gawker before shifting to TV, explained in an interview.
“I worked as a journalist for eight or nine years before working in television,” he explained. “I was having the same conversations with Black colleagues in both professions: Why are we always writing about Black misery, trauma, violence, and pain?” Why do people expect this from us? “How come this is the only thing we have to offer culture?”
Cord Jefferson wanted to turn Percival Everett’s “Erasure” into a film script after 50 pages.
“American Fiction,” which will be released in theatres on November 3 by MGM, is a humorous, jazzy take on Black representation in books and films that delights in criticizing clichés and identity politics while yearning for something more nuanced — something like “American Fiction.”
“One of the main themes is how we see ourselves as unique, specific individuals, and how the world tries to put us into little boxes and sand away all the things that make us unique and special,” Jefferson explained.
Jefferson mentioned during the TIFF premiere that he enjoys films like “12 Years a Slave” and “New Jack City.” However, Jefferson, citing “a lack of imagination when it comes to what Black life looks like,” believes that other films on the spectrum should also exist.
“I feel like Jewish people get ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘Annie Hall,'” Jefferson explained.
While Woody Allen’s film is a nod to “American Fiction,” clear analogies are more difficult to find for such a lighthearted but cutting satire. Tracee Ellis Ross, s also appear, as does Issa Rae, who plays the author of “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto.”
“One of the most exciting things has been in the test screenings when we ask people, ‘What does this film remind you of?'” Jefferson adds. “Several people have said that it reminds them of a comedy or a film.”
Cord Jefferson wanted to turn Percival Everett’s “Erasure” into a film script after 50 pages.
Jefferson, who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, wrote on some issues addressed in his video in a 2014 article titled “The Racism Beat.” In it, he discussed the significance of authors from marginalized groups contributing their unique perspectives to journalism and the difficulties of not being defined by them. Jefferson, who authored essays about donating a kidney to his father and being biracial, began his career as a writer for “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” before moving on to drama and comedy programs. He received an Emmy for co-writing the “Watchman” episode “1921 Tulsa Race Massacre” with Damon Lindelof.
Jefferson claims that directing a picture was not a lifetime desire. He hadn’t attended film school, so he didn’t think it was possible until he spoke with a friend directing an episode of “Master of None” who had studied business rather than film.
“I realised that all you need to do is have a vision and be able to articulate it to other people,” Jefferson adds.
He believes that “American Fiction” is difficult to categorize, indicating he is on the right track.
“This is my first film, and I’m excited to find my voice,” Jefferson adds. “I don’t know my voice yet, but I’m working on it.” People mentioning that the film feels unique makes me think I’m on my way to finding my voice.”
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Gypsy Rose Christmas Photo Reveals Baby Bump
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who is expecting her first child in January, flaunted her baby bump in a family vacation photo shared on social media.
Gypsy Rose, wearing a white pregnant sweater and blue jeans, posed in front of a Christmas tree with her father, Rod Blanchard, stepmother Kristy Blanchard, and Ken Urker.
While her baby is not due until the new year, Gypsy Rose has already settled on a name: Aurora Raina Urker. Gypsy admits that she had some help coming up with the name.
Ken came up with that. “There’s a whole backstory to it,” she told People in an interview this month, adding that reports she stole the name from her stepmother’s dog, Aurora Grace, are false. “It’s not because of that.”
Gypsy Rose went on to explain how and when she and Ken, who ended their engagement in 2019 before rejoining in 2023, came up with their baby’s name.
“When Ken and I were together seven years ago, we were both fascinated by the Northern Lights, which are officially known as the Aurora Borealis,” she remarked.
I believe it was in 2018 when we scribbled each other’s future children’s names on sheets of paper, and Aurora was the name we both chose without realizing it. Gypsy married teacher Ryan Anderson in 2022 but filed for divorce after less than two years.
She and Ken reconnected in spring 2024.
We are together and in a great place in our relationship; we realize it will be a long road ahead, but we are thrilled about the future,” she said.
Gypsy Rose was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2016 after convincing her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to murder her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, the previous year.
She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was released in December 2023 after serving eight years at Missouri’s Chillicothe Correctional Center.
Nicholas Godejohn, Gypsy’s then-boyfriend, was convicted of murder in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison. The pair planned to kill Dee Dee because Gypsy, a Munchausen by proxy sufferer, wanted to escape her mother’s torture.
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Politics
Canada’s Conservatives Plan for Jan 30th Non-Confidence Vote
Canada’s Conservatives are initiating preparations for a potential non-confidence vote against the Liberal government in the coming days following the House of Commons’ return from its holiday break in late January.
John Williamson, the chair of the public accounts committee and MP for New Brunswick Southwest, announced on Friday that he is recalling his committee to deliberate on a non-confidence motion in the government that he intends to present to the House upon its return.
Upon the committee members’ recall on January 7, Mr. Williamson stated that he would schedule meetings for the month if the Liberals on the committee attempted to filibuster the motion.
Williamson stated that he would present his report to the House of Commons on January 27, the day after Parliament returns from its six-week recess, following the passage of the non-confidence motion through the committee.
“This will guarantee that the House of Commons can debate and vote on the committee’s non-confidence matter as early as Thursday, January 30,” he told the Globe and Mail.
The Conservative maneuver intensifies the pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government, which would fall if it lost a non-confidence vote.
The New Democrat Party (NDP)’s Jagmeet Singh, who has been supporting the Trudeau government, withdrew his party’s support for Trudeau earlier this month.
Singh stated that he intends to present a non-confidence motion during the party’s inaugural and sole opposition day of the forthcoming parliamentary session. However, he has not specified how his party would vote in response to a Conservative non-confidence motion.
Several Liberal MPs urged Trudeau to resign before the Commons’ Christmas recess, prompting preparations for the non-confidence motion.
Trudeau’s former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced her resignation hours before the autumn economic statement’s scheduled presentation, which resulted in a decline in Liberal MPs’ support.
Trudeau informed Freeland days before the autumn economic statement that he intended to replace her with former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, effectively sidelining her.
Trudeau abruptly appointed his former caretaker, Dominic LeBlanc, Finance Minister, and Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, but he did not join the Liberal government.
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News
India Alleges Colleges in Canada Linked to Human Trafficking
India’s Enforcement Directorate reports they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and entities in Mumbai accused of illegally trafficking Indian students across the Canada-U.S. border.
A multi-city search has turned up incriminating proof of human trafficking, according to the Enforcement Directorate, a multidisciplinary agency that looks into money laundering and foreign currency regulations.
Following the discovery of 39-year-old Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, his wife, and two children dead on January 19, 2022, close to a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States, Indian officials said they began their investigation.
Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national who was apprehended in Chicago, were convicted guilty of four counts of human trafficking last month by a Minnesota jury for bringing illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain.
According to the prosecution, Shand was a driver responsible for picking up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, while Harshkumar Patel oversaw a complex operation. Seven people made it via the foot crossing.
Later that morning, the RCMP discovered the Patel family dead from the cold.
Canada’s Student Visa Program
This week, Indian authorities opened an inquiry after a complaint was made against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel for allegedly organizing the family’s trip. According to officials, each family member should have paid between $93,000 and $102,000 to enter the United States from Canada.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel allegedly assisted Indian people in obtaining student visas by arranging their admission to Canadian universities.
Once in Canada, the individuals crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally rather than enrolling in college. After that, the money paid for the college entrance was given back.
The Enforcement Directorate reported one entity referred over 25,000 students, while another institution referred over 10,000 students annually to different colleges. The people trafficking scheme is associated with over 112 Canadian colleges.
The announcement of the Indian probe coincides with diplomatic difficulties with India, a federal reconsideration of international student policy, and border security issues with the United States.
Threats from Trump
If the Trudeau administration does not adequately combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to levy tariffs on Canadian goods.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s new finance minister, and Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, visited Florida on Thursday to discuss trade and border security with the incoming U.S. president.
Before that, in October (new window), Canada expelled six Indian ambassadors on charges that they had used their position to gather information about Canadians and then given it to criminal gangs, who then went after the individuals directly.
Canada also claimed at the time that India’s home affairs minister had directed intelligence-gathering activities (new window) against Sikh separatists who wanted to separate India into an independent nation of Khalistan.
Source: The Press in Canada
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