Valentine Road

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

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 14-year-old classmate Brandon McInerney.

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 city of Oxnard, California, 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]

  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.