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"Till" Chicago Screening

Source: Barry Brecheisen / Getty

Out of the many snubs in this year’s Academy Award nominations, this one seems to be one of the most glaring.

Till, the highly-praised film documenting the life and tragic lynching of Chicago teenager Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955, as well as his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s fight for justice, received ZERO nominations. Now, Till’s family is expressing their sadness over the Oscars overlooking this pivotal story in American history.

Deborah Watts, Till’s cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, tells TMZ that the family is extremely disappointed that neither the film nor its lead actress Danielle Deadwyler (who played Till-Mobley) received an Oscar nom.  Watts said that 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.”

Despite the snub, Watts says that the family and the foundation will move forward. “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.”

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Till’s director, Chinonye Chukwu, is also moving forward from the snub. On Tuesday (Jan. 24), she posted a photo of herself with civil rights icon Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow of Medgar Evers) from the film’s October premiere in LA. With that, she expressed her thoughts on the movie industry continuing to shut out Black talent, specifically the talents of Black women.

“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. And yet. 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.”

This is, unfortunately, one of many unfortunate snubs from this year’s nominations. Viola Davis also received zero nominations for her role in The Woman King, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever only received ONE nomination for acting. (That, rightfully so, went to Angela Bassett, who’s nominated for “Best Supporting Actress.” The film’s other four nominations were in the non-acting categories, including “Best Original Song” for Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up.”)

Emmett Till’s Family, “Till” Director Respond to Oscars Snub  was originally published on foxync.com