I don’t believe in the idea of “snubs”, and yet every year you get endless thinkpieces, often by people who don’t watch that many damn movies, about the films they think were snubbed by the Oscars. Following the recent Oscar nominations, you heard a lot about the lack of female directors in the Best Director category, and the lack of nominations for Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis for The Woman King. But one filmmaker isn’t taking her snub lightly, and that’s director Chinonye Chukwu, whose film Till was shut out this year.
Chukwu took to Instagram and did not hold back in her feelings as to the reason why…
“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 continued, 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.”
If you had asked me or most others a few months ago, the likelihood would’ve been that Till star Danielle Deadwyler would get a Best Actress nomination for her critically-acclaimed performance. Chukwu, on the other hand, was never a serious contender for any length of time, especially once people saw the movie and it received a lukewarm reception.
But that’s part of the problem. Like it or not, the quality of the movie can affect an actor’s chances of winning an Oscar. And while Deadwyler was great, she wasn’t enough to make Till a much better film. Chukwu, none of the people associated with Till were owed a nomination for anything, so the idea that they were snubbed is a bit hard to swallow.
