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Humanitas, the organization that annually honors film and television writers whose work best explores the human condition, has revealed its 2023 winners.

Among the prizewinners is Craig Mazin, who scripted Season 1 The Last of Us episode “Long Long Time” that starred Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. Mazin won in the Drama Teleplay category, beating out fellow semifinalists that included Peter Gould who was up for the series-finale episode of Better Call Saul.

Other Humanitas category winners in TV included Amy Sherman-Palladino for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Comedy Teleplay), and Tony Phelan & Joan Rater for the pilot of A Small Light in Limited Series.

On the movie side, winners included Tyler Perry for his Tyler Perry: A Jazzman’s Blues in the Drama Feature Film category, over Rebecca Lenkiewicz for She Said and Michael Reilly & Keith Beauchamp and Chinonye Chukwu for Till. Cooper Raiff won Comedy Feature Film for his indie Cha Cha Real Smooth,...

This year’s Humanitas Prizes for screenwriting, usually handed out at Beverly Hilton ceremony, were announced via the Los Angeles Times this year in solidarity with the unions on strike, including the Unite Here Local 11 hospitality workers. And on top of awarding shows like The Last of Us and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Humanitas, an organization founded in 1974, also honored the striking Writers Guild of America itself with its “Voice for Change” award. Past winners of that award have included Ava DuVernay and Kenya Barris.

Humanitas’ mission is to tell “stories that explore the human experience because we believe that the act of acknowledging our common humanity is transformational.” With that in mind, this year the organization’s winners include The Last of Us‘ Craig Mazin for the teleplay for the emotional and critically lauded episode “Long, Long Time” in the drama television category. In the comedy equivalent, Amy Sherman-Palladino...

Season two of Meet the Producer podcast has been launched by the Production Guild of Great Britain. Film critic Jason Solomons talks to six leading producers working in film and high-end television. The series features interviews with Academy Award® and BAFTA-winner Simon Chinn, BAFTA-winner and Academy Award® nominee Malte Grunert, Alexandra Derbyshire, Keith Beauchamp, Academy Award® and BAFTA-winner Iain Canning with fellow See-Saw Films producer Joanna Laurie and Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo.

Everything Everywhere All at Once won the top prize at the 2023 PGA Awards.

Other winners at the Producers Guild of America awards ceremony Saturday night include Navalny, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Bear and The White Lotus.

Daveed Diggs kicked off the show with opening comments. Pinocchio was the first winner of the night, presented by Hacks‘ Hannah Einbinder, as del Toro noted it was “a fantastic year for animation, every artist in this category is trying to push it,” once again emphasizing that animation is an art form for audiences beyond children.

B.J. Novak presented the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television to Mindy Kaling, recalling their early days together at The Office and their careers since. “She knows a lot about producing now but she was great at it even before she did, because she’s a great producer for the same reason that many people, including her,...

Till was honored by the PGA on Saturday night with the Stanley Kramer Award.

The film’s producer and co-writer Keith Beauchamp accepted the award and said, “We dedicate this film to Mamie Till-Mobley, who in her heroism chose to reframe her grief in order to raise the consciousness of mankind.”

Related Story PGA Awards: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Takes Best Picture; ‘The White Lotus’, ‘The Bear’, ‘The Dropout’ Top TV Heap – Complete Winners List Related Story Warner Bros Bosses Michael De Luca & Pamela Abdy Accept PGA Milestone Award: Execs Will "Go To The Mat For The Story And The Artists They Believe In," Ron Howard Says Related Story Mindy Kaling Receives Norman Lear Award At PGAs, Says "Being A Child Of Immigrants Unexpectedly Became My Secret Weapon"

“I was 10 years old when I first heard the story of Emmett Till,” Beauchamp recalled. “The journey to this story has...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Outer Banks, Snowfall, Hello Tomorrow and Super Bowl festivities.

The Consultant premiere

Prime Video held a special screening event in L.A. on Monday for its new series, starring Christoph Waltz, Nat Wolff, Brittany O’Grady and Aimee Carrero.

Andrew Mittman, Steve Stark, Brittany O’Grady, Christoph Waltz, Nat Wolff, Aimee Carrero, Tony Basgallop and Matt Shakman

Hello Tomorrow premiere

Billy Crudup debuted his new Apple+ series in NYC on Wednesday, alongside costars Haneefah Wood, Alison Pill, Dewshane Williams, Hank Azaria and Nicholas Podany, as well as partner Naomi Watts.

Matthew Maher, Dewshane Williams, Haneefah Wood, Nicholas Podany, Billy Crudup, Amit Bhalla, Lucas Jansen, Annie McNamara, Hank Azaria and Michael J. Harney Billy Crudup and Naomi Watts

Snowfall premiere

The sixth and final season of Snowfall premiered in Los Angeles on Wednesday,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may have appallingly snubbed Till this year when it came to Oscar nominations, but the President of the United States today had nothing but accolades for the Chinonye Chukwu directed film about the 1955 lynching of civil rights activist teenage Emmett by racists and his mother’s relentless fight for justice.

“To everyone involved in this film, to paraphrase Maya Angelou: People will never forget how you make them feel,” Joe Biden said Thursday before the Till screening at the White House. “People will never forget how you make them feel,” the President added. “You know, you have that artist’s gifts of making us feel our common humanity.”

Based on the horrific events of Emmett Till’s death in Mississippi almost 70 years ago, and the determination of Mamie Till-Mobley to literally open her son’s casket at his Chicago funeral and...

Culture Shift is THR‘s brand-new newsletter dedicated to exploring and examining the current frontiers of inclusion in the media and entertainment industry. Each bimonthly edition will give subscribers the first look at stories centering the experiences of people from historically excluded backgrounds, as well as a compendium of other inclusion-themed coverage you might have missed. Expect a mix of reported features, Q&As and op-eds from both THR staffers and guest writers, and subscribe here.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the especial role and significance of the image when it comes to the systematically marginalized. Particularly as state officials and educational organizations diminish or outright ban curriculum that teaches facts about or from the perspective of those outside the dominant population, the potential impact of filmed narratives that portray these lost truths becomes all the more poignant. If Americans cannot study the West African kingdom of...

It is often said, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and make no mistake about it; these words ring more true than ever.

Keith Beauchamp

The foundation of our country was shaken once again with the Jan. 27 release of police surveillance footage of Tyre Nichols’ deadly police arrest in Memphis, Tennessee. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was pulled over by Memphis police on suspicion of reckless driving. What would happen next, just two minutes away from his home, would spark national outrage and open old wounds that would further divide the historically strained relationship between law enforcement and the Black community.

Media outlets announced constantly throughout the days prior that the Nichols video would soon be released to the public; like many, I was hesitant to join the spectacle of watching the demise of another Black life. Nevertheless, as someone devoted to telling the stories of those who suffered grave injustice,...

The 23rd annual Black Reel Awards took place Monday, February 6th, with “The Woman King” leading the field, snagging six awards including Best Picture. BAFTA nominee Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s historical epic is inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was close behind with five wins.

Special honorary award winners were Angela Bassett (Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award), Effie T. Brown (Vanguard Award), Debra Martin Chase (Oscar Micheaux Impact Award) and Kerry Washington (Ruby Dee Humanitarian Award).

The Black Reel Awards, or the “Bolt”, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (Faaaf) to recognize the excellence of African-Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the Foundation’s voting membership.

The Woman King that edged out all of the competition at The Black Reel Awards this year. With six wins out of the fourteen nominations, The Woman King nabbed wins for outstanding film, outstanding director, outstanding ensemble, breakthrough actress, outstanding score and outstanding editing.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s sweeping epic that focused on the women warriors of Dahomey, narrowly overtook Marvel’s superhero film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which garnered 5 Black Reel wins of its own. Going into the night, Wakanda Forever was tied with The Woman King with fourteen award nominations. With her third Black Reel Award win for Outstanding Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the fantastic Ruth E. Carter became the most decorated technical award winner in Black Reel history.

Actress Angela Bassett also made Black Reel history, becoming the first woman ever to win an acting and honorary award in the same year. Ms. Bassett won...

Till writer-director Chinonye Chukwu called out “unabashed misogyny towards Black women” after her film was notably left out of the 2023 Oscar nominations, with star Danielle Deadwyler missing out on the best actress nod many experts predicted she’d receive for her portrayal of Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

“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 wrote in part on Instagram Tuesday.

Still, she tried to find her own happiness in the Oscar disappointment.

“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,” Chukwu wrote.

Her comments accompanied a picture of the director with civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams,...

It would be unwise to write off “Till” as just another film thoughtlessly harboring in Black American trauma, despite it depicting the the well-known 1954 tragedy of 14-year-old Emmett Till’s murder, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to have an open casket funeral for him, showing the world the indignities Black southerners faced at the time. “This film does not center wholly on the trauma,” star Danielle Deadwyler told IndieWire. “That’s the big misconception. We’re incessantly informing people that this film begins and ends with joy. That this film is critical in understanding that Black families are not just the moment in which they have experienced violence or trauma.”

The film, directed by Chinonye Chukwu and co-written by Chukwu, Michael Reilly, and Keith Beauchamp, is more focused on “what a significant woman did after loss,” said Deadwyler. “[It’s] a miracle to come to such a revelation, a reckoning of the self,...

Tosin Cole was larking about on the set of the Warner Bros House Party reboot in Los Angeles when an email dropped from casting director Kim Coleman (BlacKkKlansman) about Emmett Till’s story.

“I was like, ‘I’m filming for months non stop, I want to go home,’ ” he recalls thinking. “They wanted me to go for Medgar Evers, and I was like, ‘I don’t know who that is. Let me think about it.’ “

His agent brought him up short telling him, “No, you got to do it. At least send a tape.”

“I was like, ‘I’m doing night shifts in LA. I don’t know when I’ll have time,’ ” he worried.

That’s when Barbara Broccoli, an executive producer of Uar’s Till, zinged him a message saying, “We’d love to have you on board, if you can.”

That missive sharpened Cole’s mind.

Besides...

Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.

Should we stay, or should we go? This is the question asked by the women of an isolated religious community in the awards-contending drama Women Talking, written and directed by Sarah Polley.

Related Story ‘Women Talking’ Star Claire Foy: “Films Like This Need To Become Part Of Cinema, Not Some Sort Of Outreach” Related Story Peter Rawley Dies: Longtime ICM Agent, Producer & Former MGM Production Exec Was 85 Related Story 'Till': Read The Screenplay From Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp And Chinonye Chukwu That Shifts Narrative On True Story

The film from MGM’s Orion Pictures, Plan B Entertainment and hear/say is based on the bestselling 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews, itself was inspired by real events within Bolivia’s Manitoba Colony.

Peter Rawley, a longtime ICM talent agent who repped Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Gere and Faye Dunaway and also was head of European production for MGM and a successful indie producer, died January 3. He was 85.

His passing was confirmed by his wife of 33 years, filmmaker Betty Kaplan, who did not give a cause of death.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story 'Till': Read The Screenplay From Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp And Chinonye Chukwu That Shifts Narrative On True Story Related Story 2022 Domestic Box Office Postmortem: Disney Leads In A Year Of Continued Repair From Pandemic

Working in Los Angeles and London, Rawley played a key role in expanding ICM’s operations worldwide, building businesses directly or through affiliates in China, Latin America, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and elsewhere in Europe.

Rawley was known for his innovative financing, packaging and distribution of motion pictures internationally.

When Chinonye Chukwu was approached to direct Till, she saw it as an opportunity to approach shift the narrative, and give viewers a varied point of view. One that centered the characters, and the aftermath. “I saw an opportunity to subvert expectations and approach the narrative through another lens – from the maternal point of view of Mamie Till-Mobley,” said Chukwu.

Directed by Chukwu with a screenplay by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp and Chukwu, Till tells the true story of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till — for whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi in 1955 — through the eyes of his mother Mamie Till-Mobley. The director adds, “Had it not been for Mamie, her son’s memory would have evaporated into thin air. She was the catalyst for a modern day civil rights movement that has laid a formidable framework for future activists and Freedom Fighters.”

Jet Magazine was given exclusive...

Click here to read the full article.

Three-quarters of the way through Till, Mamie Till, played by Danielle Deadwyler, takes the stand in a Mississippi courtroom where two men are being tried for the brutal murder of her 14-year-old son, Emmett, a Black boy from Chicago who’d been visiting relatives in the South when his life was mercilessly cut short. Photographed first in profile, then in close-up, she describes how she was able to identify her son’s mangled body and then recounts the warnings she’d given him about the necessity of acting deferential toward white Southerners. We hear the voices of the prosecutor and a defense attorney offscreen as they question her, but the focus remains steadily focused on Mamie for more than six excruciating minutes as the camera slowly pans around her, capturing every moment of her pain as she fights to hold back tears and...

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Chinonye Chukwu’s Till will receive the Stanley Kramer Award during the 2023 Producer’s Guild Awards.

The United Artists and Orion Pictures movie will be presented with the annual honor on Feb. 25, 2023, at The Beverly Hilton, the guild announced Monday.

“This team fought for years to see Mamie Till-Mobley’s story told on the big screen, venerating her legacy and the enduring love she had for her son, Emmett,” said PGA presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line in a statement. “We are humbled and thrilled to bestow this award on a film that compassionately depicts the events, and mother-son bond, that sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Till inspires all of us to work towards realizing Mamie’s purpose, justice for her son Emmett and all those who have been harmed by hatred and prejudice.”

The movie is centered on Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till,...

Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Levine, Michael Reilly, Fredrick Zollo served as producers,

Civil Rights drama Till from United Artists and Orion Pictures will receive the 2023 Stanley Kramer Award at the 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards in Los Angeles on February 25, 2023.

The Stanley Kramer Award honours a “production, producer, or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues”.

Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, who sought justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Till after he was lynched in 1955 while visiting cousins in Mississippi. Danielle Deadwyler stars as Till-Mobley.

Keith Beauchamp,...

Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Levine, Michael Reilly, Fredrick Zollo served as producers,

Civil Rights drama Till from United Artists and Orion Pictures will receive the 2023 Stanley Kramer Award at the 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards in Los Angeles on February 25, 2023.

The Stanley Kramer Award honours a “production, producer, or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues”.

Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, who sought justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Till after he was lynched in 1955 while visiting cousins in Mississippi. Danielle Deadwyler stars as Till-Mobley.

Keith Beauchamp,...

The Producers Guild of America announced Monday that “Till” will receive the Stanley Kramer Award at its upcoming awards.

Producers Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Levine, Michael Reilly and Frederick Zollo will share the honor at the ceremony, which will take place Feb. 25 at the Beverly Hilton.

The Stanley Kramer Award annually honors a production, producer or key contributors to a film who use cinema as a platform to raise awareness for social issues from past to present. The award is titled after American director and producer Stanley Kramer, whose films like “The Defiant Ones” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” transformed popular American cinema with their commentary on racism.

Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, “Till” follows the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), mother to 14-year-old Emmet (Jalyn Hall). Emmet is lynched while visiting family in Mississippi, leading the educator to turn to activism, channeling her grief into the Civil Rights Movement.

Chinonye Chukwu’s feature drama Till for MGM’s Orion and United Artists Releasing will be honored with the Stanley Kramer Award at the 34th annual Producers Guild Awards, taking place at The Beverly Hilton on February 25, 2023.

Named after the director-producer responsible for some of the most pivotal social issue films in American history — including Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, The Defiant Ones and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner — the Stanley Kramer Award recognizes a production, producer, or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues. Past recipients of the award include Rita Moreno and Jane Fonda, as well as such films as Get Out, Loving, Fruitvale Station, The Normal Heart, The Hunting Ground, An Inconvenient Truth and Hotel Rwanda.

Written by Michael Reilly & Keith Beauchamp and Chukwu, Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), whose pursuit of justice for...

The Black Reel Awards has revealed its nominations for their 23rd Annual ceremony.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, about the warrior women of the country of Dahomey, and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, about a superhero from the fictional African nation of Wakanda and a memorial to Chadwick Boseman, are tied at 14 nominations.

Two other films joined the ranks of double-digit nominations: MGM’s Till and A24’s The Inspection.

Independent studio A24 garnered 11 nominations across all categories. However, Amazon Studios landed a record three nominations in the Outstanding Independent Film category for Master, Nanny, and Emergency. Perennial powerhouse, Disney Studios nabbed the most nominations for a studio with 15.

Viola Davis landed her sixth Outstanding Actress nomination for her work in The Woman King, becoming the most recognized individual in the Actress category in Black Reel Award (Bolts) history. At the same time, director Elegance Bratton received...

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Keith Beauchamp (Till) Till and Keith Beauchamp

The struggle to make United Artists’ Till began, for producer Beauchamp, decades before the cameras started rolling. The film chronicles the life of Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy who was brutally tortured and murdered by white supremacists in 1955 Mississippi. After his killers went unpunished, Till-Mobley became a major voice of the civil rights movement.

“[She] was my mentor and friend,” explains Beauchamp, who directed the 2005 documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till. “My whole career is literally based off of my work with Emmett Till. This whole struggle, for 29 years of my life, to get this story to the big screen, was the challenge. I’m resurrecting someone that I knew. Understandably, I had this high bar of what this film should look like. For 67 years, people have tried to make...

The 1950s can inspire various forms of nostalgia. Three films this Oscar season give life to that bygone era in three very different ways. Till gives a historically accurate representation of the period, heavily based on newsreels and photos documenting the Emmett Till case. The decade gets a rose-colored perspective with Don’t Worry Darling, taking a more opulent and luxurious lens to the Golden Age in America, while Living takes on 1950s London, showing a more restrained aesthetic and color palette than its American counterparts.

Related Story ‘The Son’ Star Hugh Jackman On Why Love Is “Not Always Enough” & Bringing Back Wolverine In ‘Deadpool 3’: "This Idea Was Lurking" Related Story 'Till' Team On The 29-Year Struggle To Bring The Film To The Screen – Contenders L.A. Related Story 'Living' Star Bill Nighy Finds Inspiration And Humor In His Role As A Dying Man – Contenders L.A.

“How do we make a film that begins and ends in a place of joy?” recalls production designer Curt Beech about embarking on creating the look and feel of true-story drama “Till.” For our recent webchat he adds, “I was told that we were going to do something totally different, which is great. It’s the best thing to hear at the beginning, to have your initial impulses completely flipped upside down. That is engaging and exciting and really keeps you on your toes.” We talked with Beech as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders

“Till” is directed by Chinonye Chukwu, written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp and Chukwu, and produced by Beauchamp, Reilly and Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg. It is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley,...

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What happens when you gather at one table — as The Hollywood Reporter did in mid-November for its annual Writer Roundtable — six of the world’s most talented screenwriters, who wrote or co-wrote a half-dozen of 2022’s most inventive and acclaimed films, and among them have won two Oscars, two Emmys, two Tonys, one Pulitzer and one National Medal of the Arts? A lot of marveling at one another’s work and very different approaches to writing, some of the group venting about actors deviating from their scripts, and a brief (metaphorical) discussion of the Thanksgiving dish turducken.

This year’s panelists are Chinonye Chukwu, who wrote, with Keith Beauchamp and Michael Reilly, Till, an original screenplay about Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till and a catalyst for the civil rights movement; Rian Johnson, who penned Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, about...

Till tells the powerful story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s fight for justice after her 14-year-old son Emmett Till was lynched in rural Mississippi in 1955.

The drama from Orion Pictures, MGM Pictures and United Artists Releasing stars Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till-Mobley and Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till. Chinonye Chukwu directed and co-wrote the script with Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp.

During a panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles awards-season event, Beauchamp — who also directed a 2005 documentary on Emmett Till — said it took 29 years to bring the feature film to the screen.

“Hollywood never wanted to touch this film,” Beauchamp told the audience.

As the project finally began to move forward, Chukwu was brought on board. The filmmaker said she knew a key part of the story would be re-creating Emmett’s funeral, where his brutalized body was displayed in an open casket.

“The question for me wasn’t...

Deadline is offering up a record number of titles in the lineup for Contenders Film: Los Angeles, which kicks off this morning live and in-person at the DGA Theater on Sunset Boulevard.

The casts and creators from 29 films hailing from 14 studios and streamers will take the stage today to discuss their buzzy awards-season projects in front of a crowd of key Academy and guild voters, as the film kudos season zooms into the fast lane.

Click here to sign up for and watch the livestream.

If you can’t attend today’s event, you can follow along via livestream, on Deadline.com, and on our social channels using the hashtag #DeadlineContenders.

As for the day, Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Connelly, Jessica Chastain, Guillermo del Toro and Janelle Monáe are just a small handful of the artists that’ll have visited the Contenders stage before we’ve even hit the lunch break.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Ben Thompson on Wbgr-fm on October 27th, 2022, reviewing “Till,” a narrative re-telling of the Emmett Till civil rights incident from 1955, in wide release beginning October 28th.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall) was a happy-go-lucky teenager in the somewhat protected black belt of Chicago in 1955, raised by his mother Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler and grandmother Alma (Whoopi Goldberg). When Emmett takes a trip to Money, Mississippi, he is warned about their harsh treatment of blacks in the Jim Crow South, yet he can’t help but “wolf whistle” at a white woman store clerk. He is kidnapped by an angry white mob, shot and killed, and dumped in nearby river. When Mamie claims his body, she decides to show the world his bloated corpse to emphasize what they did, igniting worldwide outrage.

”Till” is in wide release beginning October 28th.

After finding an apartment in Los Angeles, Danielle Deadwyler utilized her teenage son and taped her audition scene for “Till.” The scene shows Mamie and Emmett’s final interaction in their home before being sent off to suffer an unspeakable fate and one that every parent of a Black child fears. During her interview for Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, we told her that many young people will be inspired to get into the film business after watching her performance. “Well, shit,” she stutters. “Let’s take that on. But how do you make a better clearing for people following behind you?”

On this episode of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, we talk to Deadwyler about the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance in “Till,” her inspirations and approach to take on such a difficult role, and what’s next for her.

Listen below:

In the “Till” the “funeral home” scene,...

Danielle Deadwyler had just moved to L.A. with her 13-year-old son and was in the middle of looking for an apartment when her reps gave her the script. “I can’t look for a place and read ‘Till,’” she remembers telling herself, but what she meant was, “Who wants to read about the mutilation and murder of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi?” Still, at the encouragement of her agent, Deadwyler read the screenplay—a third of it one day, another third a few days later, and then, a few days after that, the end. It took her a week, but she still wasn’t rushing towards the project. She found an apartment, moved in, put together demo of a couple of courtroom scenes from the movie, and started focusing on stacks of boxes and empty cabinets.

Then she got a call saying that the director wanted to see another...

“Till” is classic Academy fare, but it’s currently sitting outside of Gold Derby’s Best Picture top 15, ranking lower than several less favorably reviewed films in our Oscar odds. Because the movie’s only serious play is in Best Actress, pundits are hesitant to predict it will nab one of the 10 slots.

2017’s “The Post” was only nominated for Actress (Meryl Streep) and Picture, but that film underperformed. Owing to its pedigree, “The Post” was predicted in several categories throughout the ’17/18 awards cycle. “Till” doesn’t look as formidable at the outset.

“Coda” had gone into its triumphant night at the Oscars with only Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, and Picture and won each—but as Gold Derby’s Marcus James Dixon and others have argued, that movie probably would’ve been recognized in more categories had enough voters seen it before nominations voting ended. Thanks to Danielle Deadwyler’s roundly lauded performance,...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Till.

This article contains discussions of racial violence.

The biographical film Till, directed by Chinonye Chukwu, is based on the true story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, and here's how close the movie is to real life. Emmett's story has been depicted in media before in books, plays, and, particularly, in various documentaries, such as The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2005) by Keith Beauchamp, who co-wrote Till with Chukwu and Michael Reilly. However, this is the first time these events are shown in a fictional film, while still being based on biographical elements and the real people involved. With many movies dramatizing real stories, such as the much-discussed Blonde that divided reviews, viewers of the film may wonder how accurate this film really is and what elements Till may have left out from its narration of the events.

The film follows Mamie Till...

Chicago – The film “Till” is the story of Emmett Till, a black Chicago boy who was murdered in 1955 while visiting relatives in the American South. Instead of hiding the killing, Till’s mother Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler) chose to show the world the result of her son’s hate crime murder. Chinonye Chukwu directed the film.

Danielle Deadwyler of ‘Till’

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall) was a happy-go-lucky 1950s teen in the somewhat protected “black belt” of Chicago, who visited relatives in the Mississippi Delta. In an incident that has more points of view than Rashomon, Till allegedly harassed and wolf whistled at a white woman. He was then kidnapped from his relative’s home and murdered by white vigilantes, his body dumped in a nearby river. When his bloated corpse was sent back to his mother Mamie, she chose to show...

The slow recovery of the indie box office continued this weekend with the release of United Artists/Orion’s “Till” in 16 theaters, while Park Chan-wook’s romantic thriller “Decision to Leave” got a platform release in three theaters from independent distributor Mubi.

“Till,” directed by “Clemency” filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu, was released in five cities this weekend and grossed 240,940, bringing its per theater average to 15,059 as it will expand to 150-200 theaters in 30 cities next weekend.

With critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100 approval rating and a 92 positive rating on Comscore/Screen Engine’s Posttrak, “Till” has built Oscar buzz for lead actress Danielle Deadwyler for her performance as Mamie Till-Mobley, who spent years fighting for justice after the racist lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett.

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“Everyone at Uar and MGM’s Orion is incredibly proud of this film – its powerful,...

Chinonye Chukwu’s Till got off to a solid start at the specialized box office, grossing over 15k per theater from 16 locations in five markets for an estimated weekend gross of 240.9k, possibly more depending on how Sunday plays out.

“It’s as much as we could have hoped for,” said Erik Lomis, president of United Artists Releasing. The opening “bodes well for both the film’s continue rollout and the overall specialized film marketplace, which is seeing audiences return for adult minded fare.”

Till’s stellar 100 Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score was matched by exit polls — 92 in the top two boxes; 86 definite recommend. “This is rarefied air,” noted Lomis. The film expands to 25 markets and 100 runs next week ahead of a wider national rollout with a ramp-up in linear television and digital spots as marketing builds. It’s playing “smarthouse” (high-end commercial) theaters, and commercial venues, not traditional arthouses.

“Everyone...

Exclusive: Director Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency), speaking at a Saturday night reception following the European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival of acclaimed film Till, told about how Mamie Till Mobley sought justice after the lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett Louis Till, in Mississippi in 1955. She told us that “There were quite a few people who wanted this role,” but Danielle Deadwyler “was meant to play it.”

Producers approached Chukwu three years ago to direct a project they had worked on for more than 18 years. “I told them that I would only be interested in telling the story if I rewrote the script so it’s about Mamie and her perspective,” said Chuka.

She was adamant that she did not want to show physical violence inflicted “on poor Black bodies… because the story is about Mamie.”

Deadwyler has emerged as a major best actress contender this awards season for her magnificent portrait of Mrs.

The final weekend of the 2022 London Film Festival arrived with the premiere of Till. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett, Whoopi Goldberg and was written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chinonye Chukwu who also directed.

Till will be released on the 13th of January, 2023. Colin Hart, Ethan Hart and Scott Davis were on the red carpet, Here are their interviews.

Till Lff Premiere Interviews

Plot:

While in Mississippi for a family visit, 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped and murdered after being wrongfully accused of harassing a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. When it became clear that the white establishment was unconcerned with bringing his killers to justice – and Bryant was prepared to lie to protect the murderers – Emmett’s mother Mamie turned reluctant activist, her fight becoming a major catalyst for the US Civil Rights movement.

The post Till Lff Premiere Interviews: Jalyn Hall, John Douglas Thompson...

(Center) Chinonye Chukwu (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Flc), (left and right:) Danielle Deadwyler in Till (Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures) Graphic: Jimmy Hasse With only two feature films under her belt, Chinonye Chukwu has already proven herself an actor’s director. The stars of her films give grounded, breathtaking performances...

Specialty film rollouts continues to accelerate with Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and A24’s Stars At Noon joining releases from previous weeks to populate theaters as awards season gathers steam.

Till, from United Artists Releasing, world premiered at the ongoing New York Film Festival to stellar reviews. It opens on 16 screens in five markets – NY, LA, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old lynched in 1955 while visiting cousins in Mississippi, is an emotional one, and a tough one. But explicit violence is something Chukwu determinedly left out of the frame, focusing instead on Deadwyler’s Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmet’s mother, as she pursues justice for her son. Word of mouth, that this is first and foremost a poignant, powerful cinematic journey about one person changing history, will be key.

“Halloween Ends” slayed at the Thursday evening box office, raking in 5.4 million on its opening night.

The final film in David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis’ reboot trilogy debuted at 5 p.m. in 3,200 theaters and will release in 3,901 theaters Friday, day-and-date with its premiere on Peacock.

Independent projections predicted a 50 million opening weekend for the Universal and Blumhouse picture, on par with that of “Halloween Kills.” The 2021 sequel scored 4.9 million at its Thursday box office debut. In 2018, “Halloween” made 7.7 million on its first night and went on to earn an eye-popping 77.5 million from its opening weekend – the second highest of any rated-r horror movie at the time.

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All the ‘Halloween’ Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best (Photos)

Set four years after the events of “Halloween Kills,” “Halloween Ends” presents the last showdown between Laurie Strode (Curtis) and longtime nemesis Michael Myers. Laurie’s efforts to move on...

Chinonye Chukwu’s Till finds the Clemency writer-director facing the story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy lynched in 1955. More specifically the story of Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till, who became an ardent activist in the decades following her son’s murder. The film comes less than a year after the implementation of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, a piece of legislation nearly 70 years in the making, and the first federal anti-lynching bill.

With Till, Chukwu focuses on Mamie’s journey before and after Emmett’s death, bathing the screen in vibrant colors and light even through moments of anger, evil, sadness, and pain. The director, who co-wrote with Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp, opts for warmth and brightness, especially as she shoots the Chicago lives of Emmett and Mamie. Portraying Emmett and Mamie are Jalyn Hall and Danielle Deadwyler, respectively, attempting to fill these lives with an extreme level of humanity.

(from left) Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till Mobley and Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till in Till, directed by Chinonye Chukwu. Photo: Orion Pictures Emmett Till was kidnapped, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 because he whistled at a white woman. This is history—a story that every Black American knows all too well.

“Till” had its West Coast premiere on Saturday, October 8 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, exactly one week after its New York Film Festival debut. The movie tells the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s (Danielle Deadwyler) relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year old son, Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall), who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.

See ‘Till’ reviews out of New York Film Festival highlight Danielle Deadwyler’s ‘magnificent,’ ‘incredible,’ ‘stirring’ performance

Deadwyler and Hall, along with director Chinonye Chukwu, writers Keith Beauchamp and Michael Reilly and other stars of the film hit the red carpet to celebrate its release. “‘Till’ is an effort that came out of 30 years,” Beauchamp stated. “I was a close friend to Mother Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother. She was my mentor and friend. This was something that she had tried to fight to get done when she was still with us.

The second trailer (that you can watch above) and new poster (which you can see below) for Till has been released, along with a statement from director Chinonye Chukwu, that you can read below:

When I was approached to write and direct a story about Emmett Till, I found myself drawn to a singular figure at the center of his orbit. I saw an opportunity to subvert expectations and approach the narrative through another lens – from the maternal point of view of Mamie Till-Mobley. Had it not been for Mamie, her son’s memory would have evaporated into thin air. She was the catalyst for a modern day civil rights movement that has laid a formidable framework for future activists and Freedom Fighters. I felt compelled to champion Mamie’s legacy and center her in the spotlight where she rightfully belongs.

Mamie’s untold story is one of...

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Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for the New York Film Festival, Shantaram, Glass Onion and Rosaline.

New York Film Festival

The annual film fest kicked off on Sept. 30 with the world premiere of White Noise, followed by screenings for Till, Tár and Bones and All. The festival will continue through Oct. 16.

David Heyman, Danny Elfman, Lars Eidinger, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, Sam Nivola, Raffey Cassidy, Don Cheadle and Adam Driver at the ‘White Noise’ premiere Sept. 30. Haley Bennett, Jayme Lawson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Jalyn Hall, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith Beauchamp, Whoopi Goldberg, Chinonye Chukwu and Tosin Cole at the ‘Till’ premiere Oct. 1. Eugene Hernandez, Todd Field, Nina Hoss, Cate Blanchett and Lesli Klainberg attend the ‘Tár’ red carpet event on Oct. 3. Anna Cobb,...

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The latest trailer for Till, Clemency director Chinonye Chukwu’s movie about the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, shows his mother Mamie Till-Mobley choosing an open casket funeral, a decision that galvanized the U.S. civil rights movement.

“The whole world has to see what happened to my son,” Mamie, played by The Harder They Fall’s Danielle Deadwyler, declares in the trailer as she looked to open American eyes to the barbaric act committed against her son by his murderers in Mississippi.

In a statement, Till director Chukwu said she deliberately chose to center his biopic on Emmett Till’s mother. Till, set for a release by MGM’s Orion Pictures to select theaters on Oct. 14, will receive a nationwide release on Oct. 28.

The biopic is written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp and Chukwu. The ensemble cast includes Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jalyn Hall,...

Whoopi Goldberg waited until “The View” to respond to a critic’s assumption over her “Till” performance.

Oscar winner Goldberg portrays Alma Carthan, Emmett Till’s grandmother, in Chinonye Chukwu’s biopic “Till,” which premiered at the New York Film Festival prior to debuting in select theaters October 14. A Daily Beast critic noted Goldberg’s “distracting fat suit” in the role; the review has since deleted the criticism following Goldberg’s clarification.

“There was a young lady who writes for one of the magazines, and she was distracted by my fat suit, in her review,” Goldberg said during “The View.” “I don’t really care how you felt about the movie, but you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me…I assume you don’t watch the show, or you would know that was not a fat suit.”

Goldberg added that while it’s “Ok to...