The Loving Story

Nancy Buirski's first documentary concerns itself with the case of Loving v. Virginia.

Perhaps it might more accurately be called the story of how Richard and Mildred Loving wanted to live out their married life in Virginia. Ms. Buirski begins her discussion with consideration of the society and laws of the time as if she were talking about a place and time the audience has never heard of. To people my age it may seem ridiculous; barely more than 40 years had elapsed between the Supreme Court decision and the release of this film. Yet my nieces, on discovering their maternal grandmother had left Virginia in the 1950s to pass as White don't understand why she never told them.

Such is the lack of historical context people live in, a sort of moment which people imagine always existed. That's the reason and need for movies like this.