The first trailer for Ruth Negga's new film Loving has been released, and by the looks of it the former Love/Hate star will be in the thick of the Oscars shake-up during awards season.
Written and directed by Mud and Midnight Special director Jeff Nichols, Loving tells the true story of an illegal inter-racial marriage in the US state of Virginia in the 1950s.
Joel Edgerton stars as Richard Loving with Irish-Ethiopian actress Negga playing his wife, Mildred. The trailer beautifully mixes hope and defiance against a backdrop of racism and fear.
Richard and Mildred eloped to Washington DC in 1958 but on their return home to Virginia they were arrested. They were sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for 25 years, on condition that they left Virginia. Their case eventually reached the US Supreme Court, which in 1967 overturned the Lovings' convictions and ruled that state laws against interracial marriage were unconstitutional. The couple's story was previously told in a HBO documentary but with Nichols' new film it is now set to reach an even wider audience.
Loving was ecstatically received by many critics at Cannes following its world premiere screening in May. US trade publication Variety wrote that Loving "features two of the best American performances of the past several years, from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (neither of whom are [sic] American)".
The Hollywood Reporter said that Negga's work in the film was a breakthrough performance that would put her "decisively on the map".
At the press conference after the premiere, Negga side-stepped journalists' questions about her chances of winning Best Actress at next year's Oscars, but director Nichols described her and co-star Edgerton as two of the greatest actors in the world.
"Ruth was the first actress that we auditioned for this," he said. "And she came in and she completely embodied Mildred Loving."
Loving will be released in the US on November 4 - a key slot during awards season - with its Irish release to follow on February 3, 2017. The Oscar nominees will be announced on January 24 with the Academy Awards taking place on February 26.
