American Fiction Movie Featurette - American Artist
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz
Director : Cord Jefferson
Synopsis: AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who's fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish "Black" book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz
Director : Cord Jefferson
Synopsis: AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who's fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish "Black" book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 Monk, your books are good, but they're not popular.
00:04 Editors, they want a black book.
00:05 They have a black book.
00:06 I'm black, and it's my book.
00:08 You know what I mean.
00:10 I tend to sort of lean into the discomfort with art.
00:13 So I had been looking for something
00:14 to direct about the racial politics of being
00:17 a black artist in the world.
00:18 I just want to rub their noses in it.
00:20 And toe the line between satire and farce.
00:26 I be standing outside in the night.
00:29 Deadbeat dads, rappers, crack.
00:31 You said you wanted black stuff.
00:32 That's black, right?
00:34 I see what you're doing.
00:35 It's a pretty rare film that's dealing
00:38 with some super relevant age-old themes,
00:41 along with a deep thread of comedy and irony
00:44 running through it.
00:45 Is this based on your actual life?
00:49 Yeah, you think some bitch ass college boy
00:51 can come up with that shit?
00:52 No, no.
00:53 No, I don't.
00:54 I thought it was really funny, and it creates
00:56 sexual riveting conversation.
00:58 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
01:00 Cord has a real point of view, which I think is the key
01:05 to being a great director.
01:07 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
01:09 For it to be his first film, he's
01:11 done an excellent job creating this story.
01:13 That's brilliant and fucking hysterical.
01:16 It's like, dude, you sure you've never done this before?
01:19 He's kind, he's smart, good looking.
01:23 And he can write and direct.
01:25 I mean, who could ask for anything more?
01:27 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
01:28 People want to love you, Monk.
01:29 You should let them love all of you.
01:30 To be on a set with all of these people
01:32 around who I grew up admiring, and have them trust me
01:36 and support me in this process, I'm forever grateful for that.
01:40 If somebody can walk away and say
01:41 that this caused me to think about my own life
01:43 and my own politics, and also to have a good time,
01:46 I will be pleased at the end of the day.
01:48 They're offering $4 million for movie rights.
01:51 Yes!
01:52 The dumber I behave, the richer I get.
01:53 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
01:56 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
01:58 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
02:01 We're thinking we can get it out in time for "Genteen."
02:04 [MUSIC - THE KING, "WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT"]
02:05 Cut!
02:06 [LAUGHTER]
02:08 Oh!
02:09 [AUDIO OUT]
02:13 [AUDIO OUT]
02:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]