Nominated for an Oscar this year, Laura Checkoway’s short documentary Edith+Eddie tells the story of two nonagenarians in Alexandria, Virginia—Edith Hill, a black woman, and Eddie Harrison, a white man—who married in June 2014 after ten years of companionship. The happy couple resided in Edith’s home of 44 years with her daughter Rebecca Wright but, as the film records, had to be forcibly separated after a court-appointed attorney ruled that Edith should be moved to Florida to live with her other daughter. Checkoway, a Michigan native now living in New York, is a protege of local documentary filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters), who served as executive producer on the short and hooked her up with documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films. Edith+Eddie opens Friday at Music Box as part of two programs collecting this year’s Oscar-nominated documentary shorts.

I feel like they cherished each other even more because every day was something to hold dear. At the same time, that tenderness and excitement that you feel [when you’re] young, to see that that doesn’t change, whatever that feeling is that we get inside when we’re fond of someone, that that remains true and possible throughout your whole life.

I understand that producing this was more or less a one-woman operation. Can you describe the process of creating the film?

It was just under three months from the time that we met until the end of the film. We continued to film for another year and some change, following Rebecca’s fight to bring her mom back home and also recognizing that this is a bigger issue that’s happening to elders all over the country. I spoke with activists and advocates all over and families who have been affected by the legal guardianship system as well. Then the story hit a standstill, and when the ending that we were waiting for never came, I went to edit and chose to make it a shorter film.

Directed by Laura Checkoway. 29 min. Screens as part of “Oscar Documentary Shorts 2018: Program A.” Checkoway attends the 4 PM screening on Saturday, February 24. Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, 773-871-6604, musicboxtheatre.com, $11  @JR_Jones