Greys Anatomy star and human rights activist Jesse Williams will make his feature directorial debut with Till, a film that centers around the late Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley, mother of the late Emmett Louis Till, a Black teen who was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955 after being accused of flirting with a white woman.
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Till will focus on Mamie Till-Mobleys journey for justice for her fourteen-year-old-son after his murder.
According to Deadline, Williams is directing from a screenplay by Michael Reilly and civil rights filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp. The film is based on Beauchamps 2005 documentary, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, which led the United States Department of Justice to reopen the Till case back in 2004.
In an interview with Deadline Williams said:
Im honored to be directing the story of Mamie & Emmett: a tale of revolutionary defiance in the face of tremendous personal and public devastation. An exploration of power and pulling back the curtain on cultural violence; of boyhood and maternity challenging Americas reflex to hide from itself; underdogs refusing to pretend that terror is freedom
Williams is set to produce the project alongside EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg. Production is scheduled to begin in summer of 2019 with the support of the Till family.
