The 77th British Academy Film and Television Awards was held on February 18, in Southbank London's Royal Festival Hall. Among the multiple frontrunning categories, was the award for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Beating awards season favourites like Oppenheimer and Poor Things, was American Fiction.

American Fiction bags a BAFTA

Cord Jefferson's American Fiction, has ran under the radar when it comes to awards season. Though the film has bagged multiple nominations, the film ceased to register a major win thus far. However, the film has emerged victorious with its only BAFTA nomination, that for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

The film was vying for a win against big banner productions - namely, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Andrew Haigh's All Of Us Strangers, Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things and Jonathan Glazer's The Zone Of Interest, a successful endeavour. The film has been adapted from the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett.

What is American Fiction about?

American Fiction is a clever take on the abundant rampage of stereotypes in present-day society. The premise of the film, adapted from the novel, follows a novelist-professor, at the peak of frustration who channels the same in a novel. The novel, intended to be a satire on the way the black community is perceived in the world, to his horror, catches the fancy of the liberal elite, who view it as serious literature - a perception mirrored by its astronomical sales and critical praise. 

The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, and Keith David. American Fiction premiered at the Toronto Film Festival also bagging the People's Choice Awards. Unlike its reception during the awards season, the film was quite the hit in film festivals, receiving immense critical praise. American Fiction is reportedly eyeing a digital release for India, on Amazon Prime Video, shortly.