Loyalties
A film by Lesley Ann Patten 

This is the poignant story of two women who discover they share two halves of a common past in the painful lineage of slave and slave holder.

Carmelita Robertson, a black graduate student who worked at a museum of natural history and her co-worker, Dr. Ruth Holmes Whitehead, a white ethnologist, met for a professional lunch. First they discovered their joint interest in genealogy, then their roots in South Carolina, and then, to their dismay, a strange common thread. Almost certainly, one of Ruth's ancestors owned one of Carmelita's as a slave.

As a result of this discovery, the pair decide to travel to South Carolina to unravel their linked heritage. We witness their journey through pain , resentment, embarrassment and ultimately acceptance, as each woman, in her own way, comes to terms with their shared history. A landmark film for African-American studies, women's history, and Southern history.

• "What makes this film so extraordinary is the intelligence, maturity and emotional integrity of both women as they deal with their very different responses to their plantation visits." Program, Vancouver International Film Festival
  
  "Thoughtful and thought-provoking at the same time." Vancouver Sun
  
  "Exquisitely shot film; poignant, uniquely told exploration of the lasting legacy of slavery is appropriate for both school and public library collections." Booklist.

This VHS video is 58 minutes long.