Writer, director and actor Tyler Perry is finally premiering the first film he ever wrote more than 25 years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The filmmaker, famously known as the creator and main character Madea from ‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman,’ spoke Sunday morning at an industry conference ahead of the evening screening of his film 'A Jazzman’s Blues.'
This is Perry’s first time ever premiering a film at the festival.
“I can't give people an opinion of it. All I know is I did my best. I did my absolute best,” he said at the conference held at the Canadian Broadcast Centre.
“A Jazzman’s Blues” is a murder mystery and love story that spans from the 1940s to the 1980s and centres on an investigation into an unsolved homicide that unveils a story of forbidden love between two Black Americans, deceit and a secret.
Perry said he waited to pursue the project until he was more established in the film industry and had full autonomy over his work.
“I knew that I had to secure my footing. I knew that I had to build my brand, build a studio, get to a place where I can stand solid and say ‘Okay, now I want to do some things that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and Jazzman is one of those things’,” he said.
Perry said the time was right to release the film partly due to his partnership with Netflix, which will deliver the film to an international audience.
He also said the film is relevant given the current political environment in the United States regarding the history of Black Americans.
“I thought the timing was right, even though it's a fictional story, if it sparks curiosity that people want to go and research and look back at some of the things that happened during Jim Crow, and some of the things that happened to us as people and our love,” Perry said.
The film is a notable change from the trademark comedies that launched him to fame.
But Perry said he hopes the film will satisfy his fans who have been with him since day one.
“As important as Jazzman was and is to me… it's also as important to me that the very audience that has been with me, that has stood by my side, that has loved all those Madea movies and plays, that they are satisfied too,” he said. “They’ll enjoy Jazzman, but I don't know if it'll bring the laughter that is needed like some of the other movies that I have done.”
Perry said he wants the audience to “feel something” after watching his first screenplay.
“I want them to walk away where they feel and watching this journey of these people, these star-crossed lovers, I want people to feel something.. But as far as the overall picture, I want people to walk away with their own meaning,” he said.
Although Perry is ecstatic to finally be releasing his film, it is a bittersweet moment for the filmmaker.
“I've carried it for 27 years. And it's like, I don't know what this feels like but I guess I can equate it to or try to a parent sending their kid off to college and you're an empty nester. So it took something out of me that I had been holding for so long,” he said.
Perry said the film allowed him to expand his creativity as a director for the first time.
“First shot, something changed in me because directing before, all those other films, have always been about just the work, let's get the work done. The camera wasn't special. It was just there to tell the story,” he said.
“So that to me was really, really powerful but I've never enjoyed directing until Jazzman,” he added.
As for what’s next in Perry’s career, he jokingly suggested another Madea spinoff titled ‘Madea goes to Toronto’ before saying that he wants to continue entertaining his fans.
“I’m going to go wherever I feel lived, but I will never deny or leave the very audience that brought me here.”
The premiere of ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ is on Sept. 11 at Roy Thomson Hall at 6 p.m.
