Till director Chinonye Chukwu calls out ‘unabashed misogyny towards Black women’

Just one day after her critically-acclaimed film Till was snubbed from the Oscar nominations, director Chinonye Chukwu is speaking out.

The 37-year-old filmmaker directed and co-wrote Till, which is set in the aftermath of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till as his mother Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler) seeks justice.

While the film has earned rave reviews with a 98% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film failed to earn any Oscar nominations when they were announced on Tuesday.

Mother: The 37-year-old filmmaker directed and co-wrote Till, which is set in the aftermath of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till as his mother Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler) seeks justice

Chukwu shared a snap of her posing with Civil Rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams at the October 2022 premiere of Till, with a heartfelt caption.

‘We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women,’ Chukwu began.

‘And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance,’ she added.

Share: Chukwu shared a snap of her posing with Civil Rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams at the October 2022 premiere of Till, with a heartfelt caption

The film debuted in October, but, despite the glowing reviews, it has failed to make a dent at the box office.

The film – with an estimated budget of $20 million – has only taken in $9.7 million worldwide, with the domestic haul of $9 million representing most of its global take.

While the film didn’t get any love from the Oscars, Deadwyler has been nominated for both a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance.

Glowing reviews: The film debuted in October, but, despite the glowing reviews, it has failed to make a dent at the box office

Nominated: While the film didn’t get any love from the Oscars, Deadwyler has been nominated for both a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance

It was also named one of the best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review. 

Till’s 98% is also a higher Rotten Tomatoes rating than all 10 of the Best Picture nominees – All Quiet on the Western Front (92%), Avatar: The Way of Water (77%), The Banshees of Inisherin (97%), Elvis (77%), Everything Everywhere All At Once (95%), The Fablemans (92%), Tar (90%), Top Gun: Maverick (96%), Triangle of Sadness (72%) and Women Talking (90%).

The film is based on the true story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago native who was visiting family in Money, Mississippi in the summer of 1955.

Best: It was also named one of the best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review

He interacted with 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant at the grocery store she co-owned, with Till allegedly flirting with her and whistling at her.

Two nights after the incident, Bryant’s husband and his half-brother abducted Till and brutally beat and mutilated him before killing him and dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River, where it was found three days later. 

The film was also co-written and produced by Keith Beauchamp, who made the 2003 documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till. 

True story: Two nights after the incident, Bryant’s husband and his half-brother abducted Till and brutally beat and mutilated him before killing him and dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River, where it was found three days later