Sam Fabelman: Last News

Manori Ravindran International Editor Steven Spielberg has said that mining his family history to make “The Fabelmans” was a “very daunting experience” that was at times “very, very hard to get through.” The iconic filmmaker’s latest project world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night to raves from critics and largely favorable reviews. The semi-autobiographical movie, which is already being tipped as an Oscar contender, tells the story of Sam Fabelman, a young boy who falls in love with cinema, but finds himself fighting family turmoil to keep his dream alive. In a so-called press conference on Sunday, that was effectively a Q&A with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey (the festival did not take any questions in the room from the gathered journalists, who had to submit questions almost 24 hours in advance), the “Jaws” director said he thought making the movie “would be a lot easier than it turned out to be because I know the material and I’ve known the characters for my entire life.”

“I’ve been very private about my private life, and I’ve never gone public with my private life until now,” Steven Spielberg said Sunday. It was the existential threat of the Covid pandemic at its most lethal back in 2020 that nudged his very personal family story to the big screen.

Clayton Davis Steven Spielberg brought his semi-autobiographical film, “The Fabelmans,” to the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10, his first feature ever to debut at TIFF. To say that Spielberg is performing at the top of his game is no hyperbole. This dramatic opus, which pulls at the heartstrings, could bring Spielberg his third directing statuette (after “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”), and maybe his second for best picture (after “Schindler’s List”). “The Fabelmans” is the story of Sam Fabelman, a young boy who falls in love with cinema, but finds himself fighting family turmoil to keep his dream alive. Spielberg’s direction is the glue that holds “The Fabelmans” together, and the film touches on many of his landmark styles, nodding to “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Saving Private Ryan” and more.