PHILADELPHIA — Early in Chinonye Chukwu's heart-wrenching film, "Till," Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler) and her son Emmett (Jalyn Hall) sing bebop tunes as they drive to a department store to buy Emmett a wallet for that fateful Mississippi trip.
"'Till' is a love story between a mother and her child," Chukwu, a graduate of Temple's film school, said a few hours before "Till" made its regional debut at The Philadelphia Film Festival. The movie, which is now playing nationwide, is already garnering Oscar buzz.
"I wanted everyone in this story to exist beyond the black-and-white photographs. That is why it was so important to spend the first act being with him and Mamie, watching them make jokes, seeing his swag, and seeing the love they shared for each other," Chukwu said.
