WFC marks Black History Month with this Oscar-nominated historical drama set during the American Civil Rights era, depicting the relationship of Richard and Mildred Loving and their landmark legal challenge to the State of Virginia’s prohibition of inter-racial marriage. Much of the script is transcribed verbatim from archive material.

The film was inspired by Nancy Buirski’s 2011 documentary The Loving Story, made after Buirski read Mildred Loving’s obituary in 2008. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Take Shelter), it is produced by British actor Colin Firth, who approached Nichols after seeing Buirski’s documentary. Nichols attended the civil rights landmark Little Rock Central High School, where the first African American students had to be escorted by the national guard into school. He has observed that despite growing up in the South he had never heard of the Loving case – “there weren’t any bombings or marches, no one dies, and those don’t always catch the headlines”.

“A subtle and carefully crafted film in which speechifying is kept to a minimum … a quiet film but a powerful and uplifting one.” Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent

“One of the great films that can help nurture soul in our country.” Alice Walker