SUGAR SKY PICTURES
Valentine Road -press archive
'Valentine Road' is a Great, Urgent Doc about the Murder of an LGBT Teen
Alan Scherstuhl, October 2013
"There are many lifetimes' worth of tragedies to go around in Marta Cunningham's moving, excellent film, a doc that never flinches from heartbreak"
'Valentine Road' Director Marta Cunningham on Her HBO Doc
Ramin Setoodeh, October 2013
Marta's Q&A with Ramin Setoodeh.
Marta's MSNBC interview for "Valentine Road"
October 2013
Marta's interview on MSNBC's "Live with Thomas Roberts".
'Valentine Road' examines the tragic killing of 15-year-old Larry King
October 2013
Marta's radio interview with Alex Cohen & Leo Duran on KPCC's Take Two.
Marta wins Best Documentary Audience Award for 'Valentine Road'
October 2013
Marta has won the 2013 Best Documentary Audience Award at the Fresno Reel Pride Festival.
'Valentine Road' offers clear-eyed view of Larry King murder
Mary McNamara, October 2013
"Marta Cunningham's documentary "Valentine Road" is a profoundly disturbing and extremely effective attempt to make us stop in our tracks and try to answer the questions we so patly ask."
'Valentine Road' is paved with tragedy
Claudia Puig, October 2013
"Haunting, heartfelt and even-handed, Valentine Road should be required viewing in teaching tolerance on middle-school and high-school campuses."
HBO's 'Valentine Road' Screening Causes Major Commotion
Addie Morfoot, October 2013
"HBO’s Oct. 3 screening of “Valentine Road” caused a major commotion — as in audience members’ heckling the screen in disbelief. Throughout the 90-minute film about the 2008 murder of transgender eighth-grade student, Lawrence “Larry” King, a steady stream of ”No!” and ”Are you kidding me?” filled the intimate screening room at HBO’s headquarters."
Review: Murder of gay teen memorialized in 'Valentine Road'
Gary Goldstein, October 2013
" The film, which also airs Monday on HBO, should be required viewing for teens, educators and anyone concerned with the potentially devastating effects of intolerance. [...] Cunningham masterfully weaves a kind of cinematic memorial quilt to King..."
'Valentine Road': A Path to Teen Tragedy - Radio Interview with Marta
NPR Staff, September 2013
"First-time director Marta Cunningham spent four years making the new HBO documentary, Valentine Road, which explores the life and death of Larry King. She tells NPR's Celeste Headlee that her years of research and interviews transformed the way she viewed the crime, the victim and — most surprisingly — the shooter."
'Valentine Road' Director: Kid Killed for Having a Crush
HuffPost Live, September 2013
Watch an interview with Marta for HuffPost Life.
HBO's 'Valentine Road" Sparks Conversation About Tolerance at Screening
Carly Milne, September 2013
"The documentary, about the shooting death of 15-year-old Larry King, incited a thought-provoking discussion about race, abuse and how to inspire change, at the Museum of Tolerance on Wednesday."
'Valentine Road" Holds Screenings at Museum of Tolerance in LA & Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama
Check out photos below from 2 recent premieres for "Valentine Road".
HBO releases 'Valentine Road' preview
The film premieres on HBO Monday, Oct. 7th at 9 PM.
Marta Cunningham wins Frameline37 award for "Valentine Road"
June 2013
Marta recently won the juried Outstanding Documentary award at the Frameline37 Film Festival for "Valentine Road".
Xtra! Interview with Marta Cunningham about "Valentine Road"
May 2013
Gun Violence is a Topic of Discussion at Sundance
Brooks Barnes, January 2013
"Valentine Road is likely to make Sundance viewers — a highly liberal audience — steam with anger. Ms. Cunningham works hard to show Brandon’s side of the story, and many people in Oxnard, including jury members in the eventual trial (three of whom talk on camera in the film) openly support the killer’s reasoning; Larry was asking for it by acting like a girl."
Variety review of "Valentine Road"
Rob Nelson, January 2013
"Nothing if not timely, director Marta Cunningham’s richly detailed, deeply affecting docu “Valentine Road” burrows into the case of a 2008 school shooting that took the life of Lawrence “Larry” King, an openly queer teenager in small-town Oxnard, Calif. Though the ugly phobia that gave rise to the killing and permeated the legal proceedings boils the blood, the film’s tone is somber rather than angry, and its effect is quietly devastating. The HBO film seems certain to command attention and to play a part in the current debates over gun control and the disciplining of school bullies."
Sundance Review: "Valentine Road"
David Rooney, January 2013
"Cunningham’s film is timely in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and the current amplification of the national gun-law debate. (McInerney had access to a selection of his grandfather’s guns and ammunition stored in his bedroom.) But it’s equally relevant to the wave in recent years of tragedies resulting from school bullying, particularly with regard to sexual orientation."
'Valentine Road' is paved with tragedy
Claudia Puig, October 2013
"Haunting, heartfelt and even-handed, Valentine Road should be required viewing in teaching tolerance on middle-school and high-school campuses."
Marta Cunningham discussing "Valentine Road" on Piers Morgan Tonight
January 2013
Review: Murder of gay teen memorialized in 'Valentine Road'
Gary Goldstein, October 2013
" The film, which also airs Monday on HBO, should be required viewing for teens, educators and anyone concerned with the potentially devastating effects of intolerance. [...] Cunningham masterfully weaves a kind of cinematic memorial quilt to King..."
HBO's 'Valentine Road' Screening Causes Major Commotion
Addie Morfoot, October 2013
"HBO’s Oct. 3 screening of “Valentine Road” caused a major commotion — as in audience members’ heckling the screen in disbelief. Throughout the 90-minute film about the 2008 murder of transgender eighth-grade student, Lawrence “Larry” King, a steady stream of ”No!” and ”Are you kidding me?” filled the intimate screening room at HBO’s headquarters."
CineFix.com Interview with Marta Cunningham about "Valentine Road"
January 2013