TV: The Loving Story

Filmmaker Nancy Buirski uses never-before-seen footage, photos, and present day interview to create an utterly fascinating, bittersweet documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a mixed-race couple who were legally married in Washington D.C. in 1958 but were arrested in their home state of Virginia and convicted of the felony crime of miscegenation.

The parallels between the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia and the fight for marriage equality today are undeniable. Forced to flee their home state of Virginia and live in exile in Washington, D.C . — or risk being arrested again for having violated the state’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 — Mildred and Richard Loving, a mixed-race couple, took the only route they could find to get back home: through the courts.

Buirski leaves it to viewers to draw parallels to today’s battle to legalize gay marriage in the U.S., but they're unmistakable.

"The Loving Story" premieres on HBO February 14.