Oscars 2024: Cord Jefferson wins ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for ‘American Fiction’
Following up its Bafta win in the corresponding category, Jefferson Cord has been named the winner of the Academy Award for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for his outstanding debut feature, American Fiction.
The adaptation of the novel Erasure by Percival Everett has been a regular fixture of awards season, with Jeffrey Wright giving a career-best performance as Dr Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison, an increasingly frustrated novelist growing infuriated by people profiting on the stereotypical notion of ‘Blackness’.
Setting out to prove a point, he adopts the pseudonym of Stagg R. Leigh and pens My Pafology, a satirical takedown of the clichés the publishers who keep rejecting his manuscripts seem so enthralled by, which forces him to live a lie when he gets offered a $750,000 advance for his writings.
For every step that he takes to try and sabotage his own unexpectedly popular work, Monk’s alter ego and their novel – eventually retitled as Fuck – only becomes more successful, throwing him into a snowballing situation of his own making.
A veteran of several hugely acclaimed TV shows, including Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, popular comedy The Good Place, Succession, and HBO’s fresh take on Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Jefferson has achieved a rare feat by winning an Oscar for writing on his feature-length debut.
Cord is also shortlisted for ‘Best Picture’ as a producer of the movie, part of four nominations in total that’s also seen Sterling K. Brown and Wright in the running for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Actor’ respectively.
In the end, though, American Fiction has seen off the threat of Oppenheimer, Barbie, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest to win a hotly competitive category.
Where to watch the movie American Fiction
American Fiction is still playing in cinemas in the United States, being released on December 5th, 2023, and is currently screening in the United Kingdom after arriving on the big screen on February 2nd, 2024.
However, the film is available to rent, purchase, or download from a number of locations, including Apple TV+, Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play Movies, and the Microsoft Store.
Is American Fiction based on a true story?
Although American Fiction isn’t based on a true story, it nonetheless takes several cues from the experiences of Erasure author Percival Everett, himself a professor much like Wright’s Monk.
The plot traces the consequence of turning art into a commodity and the way the publishing industry at the time of its release in 2001 pigeonholed and stereotyped Black authors. It’s not a biopic, then, but the narrative of the Oscar-winning film is rooted deeply in the life of the person who wrote it.
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