In 1958, newlyweds Richard and Mildred Loving were arrested in the dead of night for the crime of interracial marriage. Banished from Virginia and miserable in exile, they sought support. Two young ACLU lawyers, Bernie Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, stepped forward and ultimately took their case all the way to the Supreme Court. The unanimous 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia overturned all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States. And it allowed the Lovings to go home. Though the film features present-day interviews, filmmakers Nancy Buirski and Elisabeth Haviland James were wise to let Hope Ryden’s stunning, never-before-seen archival footage and photographer Grey Villet’s still images of the couple illustrate the patent injustice of the Lovings’ story. Touching scenes of a happy family—a mother tying her child’s shoes, a husband holding his wife on the porch—make a strong counterpoint to racist hostility. It is a privilege to be granted this rare glimpse behind the scenes of a watershed civil rights case.  RM

Filmmaker Q&A following screening