Writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s Till tells the story of Mamie Till Mobley’s unwavering quest for justice for her murdered son, Emmett. Emmett was only 14 years old when he was brutally lynched after an innocent exchange with a white woman. In Mississippi in 1955, that simple act was enough to earn Emmett a death sentence at the hands of racist vigilantes.
Filmmaker Chukwu’s intention with Till was to show the incredible strength of Mamie Till Mobley and her commitment to making Emmett’s death matter.
“The very first kind of non-negotiable goal that I had when the producer first approached me three years ago was that the story needed to be to be told through Mamie’s point of view,” explained Chukwu during a press conference held in support of the film’s world premiere at the New York Film Festival. “She was going to be centered as the protagonist, and we were going to really follow closely her emotional journey. […] Without Mamie Till, the world wouldn’t know who Emmett Till was. And that was such a unique way to enter this kind of story as a kind of character study.”
Chukwu believed that by focusing on Mamie’s point of view, it wasn’t necessary to show the physical violence inflicted on Emmett on the screen. “It was not important to the narrative that I wanted to tell because this is Mamie’s story. This is her journey,” explained Chukwu. “[And] as a Black person, I didn’t want to shoot it and I didn’t want to watch it. I didn’t want to put the audiences through that as well or retraumatize or whatnot, myself.”
The love between mother and son is beautifully captured in Till, as is Emmett’s charismatic personality and zest for life. Chukwu made sure to spend a good deal of time showing Emmett prior to his murder, allowing the audience to understand his personality and his innocence.
“I really wanted to show and communicate as much joy and community and love and hope and possibility alongside the inherent pain and sadness of the story as well,” said Chukwu.
The film does, however, show the aftermath of the beating.
“What was important for me to show, but be very intentional about, was Emmett’s body. And my decision to do that was an extension of Mamie’s decision in 1955. And so it was critical, but I knew that I wanted to do it sparingly, yet effectively,” explained Chukwu. “When we really do see Emmett’s face and full body, it’s with the people in the church who are viewing it. I wanted to almost recreate that experience of the world seeing what happened to her son, collectively.”
Finding Till’s Mamie Till Mobley and Caring for Her Cast
Till’s told from Mamie’s point of view, making it absolutely critical that the actor cast in the role be able to carry the narrative. Danielle Deadwyler’s earning rave reviews for her incredible performance in a film that should be required viewing in every American school.
Chukwu revealed Deadwyler’s audition tape blew her away.
“She embodied everything that I tend to cast for in actors, particularly in leads,” said Chukwu. “Can you communicate a story with your eyes? Can you hold and command a screen without saying a word? What’s your non-verbal expression like? And can you really bring out the emotional subtext? And she checked all those boxes. I called her back, we had a director’s session using the scene where Mamie is inspecting, is looking at Emmett’s body for the first time. We talked through the emotional beats of that scene, and she just delivered beyond what I could even imagine.”
Danielle Deadwyler did her own deep dive into the research, learning everything she could to prepare to play Mamie.
“By the time we got on set, she had such an inherent understanding of who Mamie was on an emotional and psychological level, and the journey that she was going to go on throughout the film. And this is no hyperbole, every take she gave was fantastic. And that testimony scene, she got a standing ovation from the crew.”
Danielle Deadwyler and Jalyn Hall, who plays Emmett, had instant chemistry, and Chukwu recalled the first time Deadwyler and Hall met.
“We’re at a conference table in the studio, and he goes and asks to take Danielle’s hand, turns her around, and starts dancing,” said Chukwu, laughing.
Given the incredibly heavy subject matter, Chinonye Chukwu took extra precautions to make sure her cast and crew’s mental health was looked after.
“We had an onset therapist every day, and she was great and available to cast and crew. That was really important to the producers and myself. I tend to be a bit protective of the cast I work with and the crew. I just tried to be incredibly mindful of what they need,” explained Chukwu. “And so, for instance, with Danielle when we were shooting the scene when she is looking at Emmett’s body, I told the crew, ‘Listen, we got two takes, right? That’s it, right?’ Try to get as perfect as you can, but whatever we get is what we got because I’m not putting Danielle through that more than twice.’
That was the same when we shot the scene in the church. I think we did two takes, one or two takes, and Keisha (Tillis who plays Elizabeth Wright) could not do any more. I mean, you watch the film, it’s like, I didn’t even want to watch more than two takes. And so having those very strict limits was really important.”
Chukwu continued: “When we were shooting the scene where Emmett is abducted, there was a moment where Jalyn asked for a hug from [his] mom. And so we stopped everything we’re doing after I don’t know what take it was, some take, and he just needed that hug from his mom. We just stopped everything, and then we only resumed when he was ready.
My approach was we’re all human beings first and foremost, and everyone’s well-being is the priority.”
Creating the Look of Till
Chinonye Chukwu knew she wanted a vibrant color palette and very specific camera angles to make the era spring to life on screen.
“I wanted the color palette to reflect the vibrancy, the brightness, the life of Black people in Black spaces. I knew the melanin needed to be rich and delicious. That was a starting point in my conversations with Bobby (Bukowski, director of photography) and figuring out lighting options that would really illuminate Blackness and Black people and make all the Black people just look so rich and incredible and make the world, the spaces that they’re in, really pop and have a vibrancy to it.”
Chukwu continued: “I knew what I wanted, so it was just a matter of letting Bobby know. And I mean, I knew that I really wanted to be intentional about framing and composition choices, who and what is in the frame versus who and what is not. How do we suggest a world beyond the frame so we can go ahead and center particular people within this frame and prioritize a Black lens or Black gaze in the frame?
I was really intentional about low camera angles to visually emphasize power and empowerment, particularly, you know, when we have the scene where Moses testifies. That was something that we found on the day. I’m a meticulous planner with my cinematography, so we can get on set and throw everything away if we need to.”
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United Artists Releasing’s Till opens in limited release on October 14, 2022 followed by a wide release on October 28.
