‘Till’ Director Chinonye Chukwu Calls Out “Misogyny” & Racism in Hollywood After Oscar Snub

Till director Chinonye Chukwu called out the Oscars committee after her film received no 2023 Academy Awards nominations.

Chinonye Chukwu has shared her grievances with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after her 2022 film, Till, did not receive any nominations for the 95th Academy Awards. In addition, actress Danielle Deadwyler was shut out of the Best Actress category after her critically acclaimed portrayal of Mamie Till Mobley, mother of Emmett Till.

“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 posted on Instagram.

She continued, “And alas. 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.”

Also speaking out against the Oscars snub was cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, Deborah Watts, who expressed her disappointment to TMZ.

Watts says Deadwyler “embodied and delivered the true essence of our cousin, a loving and courageous mother, Mamie Till Mobley. She reached deeply and poured her heart and soul in this role as she embraced us intimately like no other, while transforming into Mamie and bringing her true essence and story to life.”

“The Emmett Till Legacy Family and community of supporters will ensure Emmett and Mamie’s legacies and story will continue to be told with or without any awards,” Watts added.

Also left out of the Best Director category alongside Chukwu was Gina Prince Bythewood, director of Viola Davis-led historical epic The Woman King. Davis also did not receive a nomination for Best Actress.