Emmett Till was a sweet Chicago boy with a huge smile, that went on vacation to visit his cousins in Mississippi. But the 1950s South was very different than where he was from, and a misunderstanding with a white woman unleashed horrific vigilantism against Till from the white locals. Emmett’s lynching became national news and a rallying cry for the Civil Rights movement, much due in part to Emmett’s mother Mamie Till fighting for justice for her son.
Director Chinonye Chukwu says, “…Mamie combatted racism, sexism, and misogyny, which was exponentially heightened in the wake of Emmett’s murder. Mamie did not cower. Instead, she evolved into a warrior for justice who helped me to understand and shape my own similar journey in activism. And as a filmmaker, showing Mamie in all her complex humanity was of utmost importance…. The crux of this story is not about the traumatic, physical violence inflicted upon Emmett – which is why I refused to depict such brutality in the film – but it is about Mamie’s remarkable journey in the aftermath. She is grounded by the love for her child, for at its core, TILL is a love story.
Till is coming to theaters in October 2022.
