Chinonye Chukwu Reveals Barbara Broccoli’s ‘Magic Words’ That Convinced Her to Direct ‘Till’

thewrap.com:

A film about the life and death of Emmett Till – the 14-year-old whose gruesome lynching in 1955 helped galvanize the civil rights movement – had been in the works for decades before it found its way to Chinonye Chukwu, but all it took was an empowering thumbs up from James Bond film franchise producer Barbara Broccoli to convince her to take on the task.Writer-director Chukwu had just premiered her 2019 film “Clemency” when Broccoli approached her with a new project.

Three years later, Chukwu recalled Broccoli’s 10 “magic words” that sealed the deal: “‘You can take this in whatever creative direction you want.'”Granted full artistic license, she chose Emmett’s mother Mamie Till Mobley as the film’s narrative vessel, and thus “Till” was born.“The story I was interested in telling is the person who was responsible for telling this story,” Chukwu said of the mother’s viewpoint during a virtual event on July 21.Till Mobley refused to endure her son’s historic death in silence, insisting on an open-coffin funeral so that people would have to bear witness to what he had suffered.

Beyond the photographs that circulated from the funeral, she took her demands for justice across the country, teaching, speaking and doing activist work for the remainder of her life.

In a trailer shown during the virtual event, Till Mobley, as played by Danielle Deadwyler, channels her trauma into public speaking engagements and testifying at the trial of Emmett’s (Jalyn Hall) killers.