Valentine Road

Valentine Road is a documentary film by director Marta Cunningham. In 2008 Cunningham read a Southern Poverty Law Center article about the murder of an openly gay non-conforming 15-year-old, Lawrence King. He was shot and killed in his middle school classroom by classmate 14-year-old Brandon McInerney.

Valentine Road
Film poster
Directed byMarta Cunningham
Release date
  • January 2013 (2013-01) (Sundance)[1][2]

Investigating the case Cunningham felt compelled to challenge what she perceived as a homophobic portrayal of King in the mainstream media. She began attending McInerney's pre-trial motions and hearings. “The more she looked into the case, the more she uncovered a web of complications and nuance that just wasn’t being given a fair hearing by the media, let alone the courts.”[3]

Embedding herself in the rural blue collar town of Oxnard, Cunningham spent five years developing trust with the community and accumulating over 350 hours of footage. The result was an 89-minute documentary described by the Los Angeles Times as a film where: “Cunningham masterfully weaves a kind of cinematic memorial quilt to King, who, just prior to his death, was living in a group home/treatment center away from his adoptive parents. [...] Archival news footage, school surveillance video and courtroom renderings round out this powerful, heartbreaking reminder of the bold, cross-dressing boy with a misplaced crush who was too often deemed the cause of his own murder.”[4]

HBO aired the documentary at the start of their 2013 Fall season. As a result, Valentine Road was nominated for Emmys in the Best Documentary and Best Longform Narrative category at the 35th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.[5]

USA Today praised the film as: “Haunting, heartfelt and even handed” recommended that: “Valentine Road should be required viewing in teaching tolerance on middle school and high school campuses.”[6]

References
  1. "Sundance: Filmmakers seek truth behind headlines on 'Valentine Road'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  2. "Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers #46: Marta Cunningham Explores a Complicated Killing in 'Valentine Road'". 22 January 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. Knott, Matthew Hammett (February 6, 2014). "Heroines of Cinema: Marta Cunningham Explains The Valentine's Tragedy That Turned Her Into a Filmmaker". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  4. Goldstein, Gary (October 3, 2013). "Review: Murder of gay teen memorialized in 'Valentine Road'". Los Angeles Times.
  5. Ritchie, Kevin (July 15, 2014). ""Invisible War," "Plague" among News & Doc Emmy nominees". Realscreen. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  6. Puig, Claudia (October 7, 2013). "'Valentine Road' is paved with tragedy". USA Today.


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