Orion Shares Powerful First Look at “Till”

The murder of Emmett Till is one of the ugliest incidents in American history. It was a widely publicized tragedy that was all too common in the Jim Crow era. While his death has been the subject of many songs, documentaries and even museum installations, a feature film has yet to happen until now.

Chinonye Chukwu, who won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance a few years ago with her death row drama Clemency, directs the film. In the featurette below, she promises "no physical violence against Black people onscreen." It's an important choice, as movies about racial violence can often be tough to watch. Calling Till "humanizing and uplifting," the movie will focus more on the fight of Emmett's mother Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler), who heroically used her personal tragedy to galvanize the civil rights movement.

Till opens in theaters Friday, October 14, after premiering at NYFF.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.