Cord Jefferson's 鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� a biting satire starring Jeffrey Wright as a disillusioned academic, has won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, a much-watched bellwether in the Oscar race.
鈥淎merican Fiction" is , the veteran TV writer of 鈥淲atchmen鈥� and 鈥淪uccession," and an adaptation of Percival Everett鈥檚 2001 novel 鈥淓rasure.鈥� The film, about an author who resents that the literary industry is only interested in 鈥淏lack books鈥� that cater to the stereotypes of white audiences, emerged as a breakout hit at TIFF.
Toronto's audience award winner, voted on by festival attendees, has historically nearly always signified a best-picture contender at the Academy Awards. Since 2012, every People's Choice winner at TIFF has gone on to score a best-picture nod. In 2018, , it announced the film as a surprise awards contender. (Peter Farrelly's film went on to at the Oscars.) Last year, Steven Spielberg's 鈥淭he Fabelmans鈥�
First runner-up went to starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly boarding school teacher tasked with staying with a handful of students over Christmas break in the 1970s. Second runner-up was the long-awaited latest Studio Ghibli film from the Japanese anime master.
鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� which MGM will release in theaters Nov. 3, co-stars Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae and Tracee Ellis Ross. In an interview, Jefferson said he immediately connected with Everett's book.
鈥淚 was having the exact same conversations with Black colleagues in both professions: Why are we always writing about misery and trauma and violence and pain inflicted on Blacks?" said Jefferson. "Why is this what people expect from us? Why is this the only thing we have to offer to culture?鈥�
The Toronto International Film Festival, which wraps Sunday, was . Red-carpet premieres were mostly without movie stars, detracting from some of the buzz that the largest film festival in North American typically generates. It followed a similarly strike-affected Venice Film Festival, where the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, (That film skipped TIFF.)
The People's Choice winner for documentary went to Robert McCallum鈥檚 鈥淢r. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe鈥� and the midnight madness award went to Larry Charles' 鈥淒icks: The Musical." The festival's juried competition awards were given to Tarsem Singh Dhandwar's 鈥淒ear Jassi,鈥� winner of the Platform section, and Meredith Hama-Brown's 鈥淪eagrass,鈥� which took the FIPRESCI award from international critics.
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This story corrects the spelling of Jeffrey Wright鈥檚 first name.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
