There are some people on the crew, like our post-production supervisor is from Chicago and remembers this time period, and so he was also a resource. That, in combination with photos and videos, and different kinds of firsthand accounts, all informed how we wanted to create Chicago. Some VFX work was inevitable. But one of the great things about shooting in Georgia is that the state looks so different piece by piece. You have parts that can be dressed as downtown Chicago or parts that could be dressed as rural Mississippi. So it wasn’t, and it was a challenge.
The opening tilt onto Marshall Fields is great. It’s not exactly Marshall Fields, but it’s a good facsimile.
CC: We do the best we can to honor the emotional truth.
I will say, I did have to pause to be sure.
CC: See, I knew you Chicagoans would do that. [laughs] So I was like, I can’t mess this up, man.
That’s what we do! Chicago is a petty city.
CC: Oh, listen, I get it. I fully expect people from Mississippi to also press pause. Like, if there’s anything with anything Alaska or Nigerian, I’m looking.
Not to purposely go down beat, but I wanted to get into the weight of Black witness during 1955 as opposed to now, especially when, in 2022, the images of Black trauma are nearly inescapable. Is the power of witnessing the same today as in 1955?
DD: No. This is the thing, this is the beauty of witnessing the way Mamie did it because that’s called critical care. That was her making the choice to show this body. When you see this body for the first time, at a time where you’re not seeing things, then your eyes are opened. She called it a global awakening. It was an awakening for her, personally. And as she’s having this experience, she knows that others need to have it too. She knows America needs to have it. She knows the world needs to have it. And so this body is witnessed with care.