đŸȘŽ Anil's Garden

Barry Jenkins - Wikipedia

12 Sept 202525 min read

Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film My Josephine (2003), he directed his first feature film, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. He is also a member of the Chopstars collective as a creative collaborator.

Following an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking, Jenkins directed and co-wrote the LGBTQ-themed independent drama Moonlight (2016), which won numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Jenkins received an Oscar nomination for Best Director and jointly won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Tarell Alvin McCraney.1 He became the fourth Black person to be nominated for Best Director and the second Black person to direct a Best Picture winner. He released his third directorial feature, If Beale Street Could Talk, in 2018 to critical praise and screenplay-award nominations at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

He is also known for his work in television. Jenkins directed “Chapter V” of the Netflix series Dear White People in 2017. In 2021, he created and directed the Amazon Video limited series The Underground Railroad, based on the novel of the same name, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie nomination and a Peabody Award. In 2017, Jenkins was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.2

Early life

Jenkins was born in 1979 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida,3 the youngest of four siblings, each from a different father.4 His father separated from his mother while she was pregnant with Jenkins, believing that he was not Jenkins’s father; he died when Jenkins was 12.4 Jenkins, in later life, still has “no idea who my ‘real’ father is”.5 “I don’t think any of us were planned, but I was definitely a mistake”, he said later.6

His mother, a nurse, was a crack-cocaine addict,5 7 and was a teenage runaway who Jenkins has said abandoned him.8 5 9 Jenkins grew up in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, and was primarily raised by another older woman (who had also looked after his mother while she was a teenager) in an overcrowded apartment: “I wasn’t raised by anyone who was a blood relative of mine, and yet I could see my blood relatives all around the neighborhood because things were just so, so bad”.4 10 As a teenager Jenkins lived with friends from Miami Northwestern Senior High School, where he played football and ran track.3 6 His disordered and lonely childhood led him to retreat inwards and develop an active imagination.11 He hoped to pursue a creative-writing degree.6

Jenkins studied film at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts (FSU),3 where he met many of his future frequent collaborators, including cinematographer James Laxton, producer Adele Romanski and editors Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon.12 His decision to study there was instigated by an initial visit: “I thought: This is the blackest place in America. I gotta be here”.6 Feeling inadequate in terms of his technological skills, Jenkins took a year off to develop them.13 Jenkins felt a general lack of confidence at the start of the program, which began for Jenkins in a spontaneous manner. To resolve his personal misgivings, in a divergence from the inspirations of his classmates, he looked toward foreign arthouse cinema and directors like Wong Kar-wai, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Lynne Ramsay.14

While at Florida State, Jenkins became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha 15 fraternity. Four days after graduating from FSU, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a filmmaking career, spending two years working on various projects as a production assistant.3 He became disillusioned with “Hollywood film-making” after working for Harpo Productions, an experience which contrasted with his time studying film, reflecting that “At school, film-making had been the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me”.14

Career

Jenkins at a Q&A for Medicine for Melancholy at the Northwest Film Forum in 2009

Jenkins’ first film was his 2001 short My Josephine, which follows the romantic life of a young Arabic-speaking man, following the September 11 attacks.11 Previously he had fretted over his chances of success due to his racial and class identity, but My Josephine demonstrated that “I could do the work to make myself as accomplished as anyone else”.16 He then explored Black children being tried as adults for the deaths of their peers in Little Brown Boy.11

He would later follow it up with Medicine for Melancholy.11 The film, which has been linked to the mumblecore scene, stars Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins.17 18 The impetus being the lack of low-budget mumblecore films which featured African-Americans, Jenkins recalled that the movie represented the “place where I was both physically, emotionally, and mentally”.13 19 Well received by critics, the film underwent “the usual tour of festivals garnering its share of nominations, reviews, small awards and limited release distribution in major cities in 2009 and 2010”.4 20

Following Medicine for Melancholy, Jenkins wrote multiple scripts: a time travel epic for Focus Features and adaptations of If Beale Street Could Talk and a memoir by Bill Clegg.4 21 22 He later worked as a carpenter and co-founded Strike Anywhere, an advertising company. In 2011, he wrote and directed Remigration, a sci-fi short film about gentrification. Jenkins became a writer for HBO’s The Leftovers, about which he has said, “I didn’t get to do much.” 4 In 2012, he received a United States Artists Fellowship grant.23 During this time period, he reckoned he matured as both a person and an artist. The lack of fruition with his scripts led him to consider if he was unable to produce another film; his next feature, he said, “just came to me”.22

2016: Moonlight

Jenkins directed and co-wrote, with Tarell Alvin McCraney, the 2016 drama Moonlight, his first feature film in eight years.4 It is an adaptation of McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Both writers’ lives influenced the story, both having spent their childhoods in close proximity in Miami, Florida, although without knowing each other. While Jenkins found the main character, Chiron, reflective of himself,7 22 he did hold “some reservations and doubts” about adapting McCraney’s play on account of being heterosexual; however, their shared characteristics and McCraney’s trust in Jenkins emboldened him.10 Jenkins’ screenplay – which he composed in ten days – expands upon McCraney’s story, having more resources and control at his disposal than he had before.13 The movie was shot in 25 days, in Miami; the filming described by Naomie Harris as “very low-budget, it was very intimate film-making, collaborative”.13 24 It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2016 to a substantial amount of awards and critical acclaim.25 26 According to film scholar Rahul Hamid, it was among the “most celebrated films of 2016, boasting
 inclusion in all of the major top ten lists”.27 “He became the breakout of the year”, said Camonghne Felix.11

The film won dozens of accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture – Drama 28 and the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards.29 Jenkins and McCraney also won Best Adapted Screenplay. Overall, the film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Director.30 Described as historic, Justin Gomer, scholar of American Studies, said that is “the most racially significant film to ever win”, with it affecting the overall “whiteness” of the Oscars.31 32 33 Anthropologist Elizabeth Davis stated that Moonlight and similar films’ acclaim indicates an “increase in the social and institutional recognition and approval of blackness”.34 In 2022, in a poll of 1,639 participating critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics, Sight and Sound crowned Moonlight as the 60th greatest film of all time.35

In 2017, Jenkins directed the fifth episode of the Netflix original series Dear White People, having been chosen due to his work on Moonlight. In line with the show’s other directors, Jenkins’ work was guided by an overall visual framework, although he was encouraged to be distinctive.36 In 2013, the same year he wrote Moonlight, Jenkins had written a film adaptation of James Baldwin ‘s novel If Beale Street Could Talk.37 Production began in October 2017 with Annapurna Pictures, Pastel, and Plan B.38 Jenkins worked closely with Baldwin’s estate and was given handwritten notes about how he would have approached a film version – “a slow epiphany” is how Jenkins described reading the notes.39 The adaptation is largely faithful to the source material, although aspects, such as the opening and ending, are changed.40 41 The film was released in December 2018 to critical acclaim. It garnered numerous accolades, including Best Supporting Actress wins for Regina King at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Jenkins received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Aided by his previous television work, Jenkins directed the 2021 television series adaptation of Colson Whitehead ‘s novel The Underground Railroad, the series being a passion project for Jenkins. It was initiated by Amazon Studios (and subsequently ordered to series in June 2018) after Jenkins’ strong Oscar haul for Moonlight. The main cast of The Underground Railroad includes Thuso Mbedu as Cora, with Chase W. Dillon as Homer and Aaron Pierre as Caesar.42 43

“[Bringing] together a group of disparate artists”, Jenkins and the casting director, Francine Maisler, searched worldwide for an actor to play Cora and sought those then-undiscovered.40 44 The series’ creation was deeply personal – with Jenkins once receiving an assessment by the on-set therapist.45 46 It proved to be the most difficult project of his career yet with him feeling a closer attachment to his ancestral past.45 The show was met with critical acclaim; it was the most recent entry to the BBC’s 2021 list of the 21st century’s greatest TV shows.47 48 In 2024, he wrote a screenplay based on the life of boxer Claressa Shields titled The Fire Inside 11 49 50 and directed Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to the CGI remake of Disney’s The Lion King that primarily concerns the coming of age origins of Mufasa.50

Jenkins at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

More recently, his Pastel production company signed a first look deal with HBO, HBO Max and A24.51 In 2023 he was slated to serve as head of the Platform Prize jury at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.52

In 2025, he signed to direct Universal ‘s sci-fi thriller The Natural Order, starring Glen Powell and based on an upcoming novel of the same name by Matthew Aldrich, who would co-write the screenplay alongside Jenkins.53 Jenkins also signed on to direct Zendaya in A24 ‘s biopic on the life of Ronettes singer Ronnie Spector, Be My Baby. The film, being written by Dave Kajganich, was to focus on a specific moment of Spector’s life, namely her relationship with troubled producer Phil Spector.54

Unrealized projects

Untitled time travel film

In an interview in 2016, Jenkins revealed that in the aftermath of Medicine for Melancholy he wrote and developed a manic-sounding epic about ” Stevie Wonder and time travel,” involving a mysterious mansion in Harlem and a vintage Moog synthesizer with magical, spacetime-altering properties. Jenkins was working on the film with Focus Features, but it never panned out.4

Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man film

Also in the aftermath of Medicine for Melancholy, Jenkins penned a screenplay adaptation, on assignment, of Bill Clegg ‘s 2010 memoir, Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man.4

The Intuitionist film

Years prior to his work on The Underground Railroad, Jenkins had tried to adapt The Intuitionist, the first novel by the same author, Colson Whitehead.46 55

Expatriate film

In January 2018, Jenkins was attached to direct Chadwick Boseman in the thriller film Expatriate, set around a 1970s plane hijacking. Boseman wrote the script with his writing partner Logan Coles.56 The film remains unrealized as of Boseman’s death.

Alvin Ailey biopic

In June 2019, Deadline announced that Jenkins was attached to direct Fox Searchlight ‘s biopic about Alvin Ailey, one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century.57 As of 2024 the film was still in development, and was considered by Jenkins as a possible follow up to Mufasa.58

Virunga film

Deadline also reported that Jenkins would team up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Netflix, to write the feature adaptation on the documentary Virunga. The true story follows rangers risking their lives to save Africa ‘s most precious national park and its endangered gorillas.59

The Knick season 3

In September 2020, Steven Soderbergh confirmed that a new season of The Knick was in development led by Jenkins.60

Artistry

Jenkins has a close working relationship with cinematographer James Laxton, stating that “the way we are on set is a shared language, a shared approach to the imagery”. On set, Jenkins said that their goal is to incorporate as much of their preceding deliberations as possible whilst still considerate of the actors’ needs and available time. He has stated his approach as precise and intimate: “always on set thinking about what else I can do”; his style has been noted to have specific focus upon the emotive states of the characters.13 61 Aaron Pierre described Jenkins as “the epitome of a leader
 because he ensured that everyone was feeling safe, everyone was feeling supported”.62 Jenkins has cited James Baldwin as a significant influence, reflecting that in his early career he was “obsessed” with him.20 63 Claire Denis ’ Friday Night was the inspiration behind Medicine for Melancholy.64 He credits his romantic partner and fellow filmmaker Lulu Wang with inspiring him, “add[ing] rigor to creative practice”.11 Morgan Jerkins opined that Jenkins, who re-reads texts he is adapting, “is not only a filmmaker but also a bibliophile who pulls from both historical and contemporary sources”.10

Despite a more intense plot and themes, discussing parenting, friendship, and black masculinity, especially in regards to sexual orientation, Jenkins made the decision to invert Medicine for Melancholy ‘s sombre color palette in Moonlight; he wished for the audience to be immersed and for there to be a “softness around the characters” – a desire also reflected in his choice of aspect ratio, 2:35.13 27 Each of the film’s three distinct chapters feature specific visuals, with the general visuals underscoring the themes of the film and intended to “elevate” the story.26 Visuals are a key aspect of his storytelling, with focus upon how he can “visually translate [a] story”.10 Various elements of Moonlight represent time, a particular interest of Jenkins; he “transforms time’s passing into a series of rites of passage” and uses chopped and screwed ‘s manipulation of time throughout the film.13 65

Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk and The Underground Railroad compose, in the eyes of Jenkins, a thematic trilogy, exploring childhood abandonment – including his own feelings. Moonlight depicts his childhood experience as he lived it whereas If Beale Street Could Talk showcased his, at times, desired family; Whitehead’s novel helped him process his feelings of abandonment and he recognized separation of family as a prominent aspect of the story.5 8 Jenkins has expressed an inclination to empathize with the characters in his work.46 Adele Romanski identified Medicine for Melancholy, Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk as variations upon a template: a love story.6 Jenkins noted that Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk are most similar in their visuals.63

Black identity

In both Medicine for Melancholy and Moonlight, Jenkins couples introspection with speculation upon Black identity; Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk are “tough but tender meditations on African American lives”.13 66 Gomer aligned Jenkins with “the history of black independent filmmakers and artists who interrogate the category of blackness itself”.33 Jenkins has stated that, amidst his solemn consideration of the craft and formalism of film, he seeks to articulate his “personal experience, what it feels like to be a young black man in America” – his perception evident in My Josephine, and surmised to be in Moonlight, saying of the former “it fucking worked. I thought, ‘This is what I am going to do for the rest of my life.’ ” 13 14 67 68

With Moonlight, Jenkins intertwined “well-known images and stories of contemporary Black life” with queer identity and made the intersectional nature “more legible, not to white audiences but to black communities”.69 70 Whiteness is diminished in Moonlight, which has been said to defy traditional Hollywood understandings of black masculinity and general black identity, showcasing a spectrum of black sexuality and masculinity.71 72 32 73 The Underground Railroad similarly breaks away, Jenkins choosing to avoid a portrayal of slaves as solely virtuous – Jenkins having “distinguish[ed]” himself from what Gomer dubs ” New Black Hollywood “.33 74 “I hope it can recontextualise rather than reinforce stereotypes about my ancestors, that have been allowed to persist over the decades”, Jenkins said.5

After The Underground Railroad ‘s release Felix wrote that Jenkins “is breaking the fourth wall to help Black people look themselves in the eye”. She viewed the changed ending of If Beale Street Could Talk as an attempt “to give his mostly Black viewership a happy ending, or at least a happier one”.11 Jenkins has expressed consideration of his audience, considering such a perspective as a byproduct of film’s expensive nature, although he does not desire to “make decisions that anticipate the reaction of an audience”.75

Personal life

Jenkins began dating filmmaker Lulu Wang in 2018.76 In December 2024, they were married at a private ceremony.77

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerRef.
2008Medicine for MelancholyYesYesNo79
2016MoonlightYesYesNo80
2018If Beale Street Could TalkYesYesYes41
2020Charm City KingsNoStoryNo81
2022AftersunNoNoYes82
2023All Dirt Roads Taste of SaltNoNoYes83
2024The Fire InsideNoYesYes84
Mufasa: The Lion KingYesNoNo85
2025Sorry, BabyNoNoYes86
Preparation for the Next LifeNoNoYes87

Television

YearTitleCreatorDirectorWriterExecutive producerNotesRef.
2017Dear White PeopleNoYesNoNoEpisode: “Chapter V”78
2021The Underground RailroadYesYesYesYes10 episodes50
2022Light & MagicNoNoNoNoAppeared in 2 episodes
2024True DetectiveNoNoNoYes

Accolades

Notes

References

Footnotes

  1. Rothman, Michael (February 26, 2017). “‘Moonlight’ wins best picture after ‘La La Land’ mistakenly announced”. ABC News. Retrieved February 27, 2017. ↩

  2. “Barry Jenkins: The World’s 100 Most Influential People”. Time. Retrieved September 23, 2020. ↩

  3. Rodriguez, Rene (February 27, 2017). “‘Moonlight’ director says growing up in Miami, ‘Life was heavy,’ but it’s a ‘beautiful place’“. Miami Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Stephenson, Will. “Barry Jenkins Slow-Cooks His Masterpiece”. The Fader. Retrieved October 22, 2016. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  5. Adams, Tim (May 9, 2021). “Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’“. The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Flournoy, Angela (October 4, 2018). “Barry Jenkins’s Films of Love, Pain and Black Male Vulnerability”. The New York Times Magazine. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. Rapold, Nicolas (2016). “Interview With Barry Jenkins”. Film Comment. 52 (5): 44– 45. ISSN 0015-119X. JSTOR 44990373. ↩ ↩2

  8. Ford, Rebecca (August 10, 2021). “Barry Jenkins on Concluding His Trilogy With ‘The Underground Railroad’“. Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021. ↩ ↩2

  9. 79 ↩

  10. Jerkins, Morgan (November 30, 2018). “An Interview with Barry Jenkins”. Believer. Retrieved February 17, 2022. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. Fellix, Camonghne (April 21, 2021). “Barry Jenkins on Bringing ‘The Underground Railroad’ to TV Form”. Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 22, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  12. Ugwu, Reggie (January 22, 2019). “Barry Jenkins Is Trying Not to Think About ‘Barry Jenkins’“. The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2020. ↩

  13. Gillespie, Michael Boyce (2017). “One Step Ahead: A Conversation With Barry Jenkins”. Film Quarterly. 70 (3): 52– 62. doi:10.1525/fq.2017.70.3.52. ISSN 0015-1386. JSTOR 26413788. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  14. Pulver, Andrew (February 7, 2017). “Moonlight becomes him: Barry Jenkins’s journey from a Miami housing project to the Oscars”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. “Congrats, Brother Barry JenkinsOscars”. February 27, 2017. ↩

  16. Berman, Eliza (February 1, 2017). “Barry Jenkins on “Moonlight,” Oscars and Breaking Barriers”. Time. Retrieved September 29, 2021. ↩

  17. Scott, A. O. (January 29, 2009). “In Barry Jenkins’s First Movie, a Short-Term Romance Leads to Big Questions”. The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2016. ↩

  18. Rich, B. Ruby (2016). “What Is at Stake: Gender, Race, Media, or How to Brexit Hollywood”. Film Quarterly. 70 (1): 5– 10. ISSN 0015-1386. JSTOR 26413734. ↩

  19. Ugwu, Reggie (November 21, 2018). “How a $15,000 Movie Rallied a New Generation of Black Auteurs”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2021. ↩

  20. Pavlić, Ed (2013). “Speechless in San Francisco”. Transition (110): 103– 119. doi:10.2979/transition.110.103. JSTOR 10.2979/transition.110.103. ↩ ↩2

  21. Keegan, Rebecca (October 21, 2016). “To give birth to ‘Moonlight,’ writer-director Barry Jenkins dug deep into his past”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 27, 2016. ↩

  22. Barrett, Gena-mour (February 22, 2017). “Here’s How Barry Jenkins Made Magic With “Moonlight"". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  23. “United States Artists » Barry Jenkins”. Retrieved May 26, 2020. ↩

  24. Ruby, Jennifer (February 21, 2017). “Naomie Harris credits breakout hit Moonlight with changing her career”. Evening Standard. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2021. ↩

  25. Buchanan, Kyle (October 21, 2016). “Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins on Directing One of the Best Films of the Year”. Vulture. Retrieved October 22, 2016. ↩

  26. Gates, Racquel (2017). “The Last Shall Be First: Aesthetics and Politics in Black Film and Media”. Film Quarterly. 71 (2): 38– 45. doi:10.1525/fq.2017.71.2.38. ISSN 0015-1386. JSTOR 26413861. ↩ ↩2

  27. Hamid, Rahul (2017). “Review of Moonlight”. CinĂ©aste. 42 (2): 44– 45. ISSN 0009-7004. JSTOR 26357011. ↩ ↩2

  28. Berman, Eliza. “‘Moonlight’ Wins Golden Globe for Best Picture, Drama”. Time. Retrieved January 9, 2017. ↩

  29. “Oscars 2017: ‘Moonlight’ wins best picture in a wild ending”. USA Today. Retrieved February 27, 2017. ↩

  30. Opam, Kwame (January 24, 2017). “Oscar nominations 2017: Moonlight and La La Land will go head-to-head at the Academy Awards”. The Verge. Retrieved February 5, 2017. ↩

  31. Gates, Racquel; Gillespie, Michael Boyce (2017). “An Introduction”. Film Quarterly. 71 (2): 9– 11. doi:10.1525/fq.2017.71.2.9. ISSN 0015-1386. JSTOR 26413856. ↩

  32. Drake, Simone C; Dwan K., Henderson (2020). Are You Entertained? Black Popular Culture in the Twenty-First Century. Duke University Press. pp. 9– 10. ISBN 978-1-4780-0900-9. ↩ ↩2

  33. Gomer, Justin (2020). White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights. University of North Carolina Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-4696-5582-6. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  34. Davis, Elizabeth (2019). “Beside(s) Love and Hate: The Politics of Consuming Black Culture”. Theory & Event. 22 (3): 576– 594. doi:10.1353/tae.2019.0035. S2CID 201766007. ↩

  35. “The Greatest Films of All Time”. BFI. Retrieved December 7, 2022. ↩

  36. Seitz, Matt Zoller (May 5, 2017). “Barry Jenkins on How He Directed Dear White People’s Most Pivotal Episode”. Vulture. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2021. ↩

  37. Black, Julia (January 9, 2017). “Moonlight Director Barry Jenkins Hopes His Film Pulls People Out of Their Comfort Zones”. Esquire. Retrieved July 16, 2017. ↩

  38. Haigney, Sophie (July 10, 2017). “Barry Jenkins to Follow ‘Moonlight’ With a James Baldwin Work”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2017. ↩

  39. Chang, Ailsa; Yu, Mallory (December 6, 2018). “Director Barry Jenkins Talks On Behalf Of ‘Beale Street’“. NPR. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2021. ↩

  40. David, Canfield (July 28, 2021). “The Genius Who Casts Your Favorite Movie and TV Ensembles”. Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 29, 2021. ↩ ↩2

  41. Rodriques, Elias (December 17, 2018). “The Black Feminist Roots of James Baldwin’s ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’“. The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved July 29, 2021. ↩

  42. Otterson, Joe (April 16, 2019). “Barry Jenkins’ ‘Underground Railroad’ Series at Amazon Sets Three Main Cast Members”. Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2020. ↩

  43. Olsen, Mark (June 2, 2021). “One line convinced Barry Jenkins to make ‘The Underground Railroad.’ Let him explain”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021. ↩

  44. Hill, Libby (August 23, 2021). “‘The Underground Railroad’ Team Details Working Together to Build Something Beautiful”. IndieWire. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021. ↩

  45. Gross, Terry (May 10, 2021). “Filmmaker Barry Jenkins On ‘The Underground Railroad’: Fresh Air”. NPR. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021. ↩ ↩2

  46. Norris, Michelle (May 27, 2021). “Race in America: History Matters with Academy Award-Winning Writer & Director Barry Jenkins”. Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 20, 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  47. writers, BBC Culture (October 19, 2021). “The 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century”. BBC Culture. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021. ↩

  48. Arnell, Stephen (May 29, 2021). “When Hollywood met Netflix: the best TV shows with big-name directors”. The Spectator. Archived from the original on May 29, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021. ↩

  49. Erbland, Kate (October 7, 2016). “‘Moonlight’ Filmmaker Barry Jenkins Will Write Script For Fact-Based Female Boxer Coming-of-Age Drama”. www.IndieWire.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020. ↩

  50. Lang, Brent (September 29, 2020). “‘The Lion King’ Follow-Up in the Works With Director Barry Jenkins”. Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2020. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  51. White, Peter (April 1, 2021). “Barry Jenkins’ Pastel Strikes First-Look Deal With HBO, HBO Max & A24”. Deadline. Retrieved April 2, 2021. ↩

  52. John Hazelton, “Toronto unveils 2023 Platform line-up; ‘Dream Scenario’ with Nicolas Cage to open”. Screen Daily, August 2, 2023. ↩

  53. Jackson, Angelique (March 13, 2025). “Barry Jenkins in Talks to Direct Glen Powell in Sci-Fi Thriller ‘The Natural Order’“. Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2025. ↩

  54. Kroll, Justin (March 26, 2025). “Barry Jenkins Teams With A24 For Zendaya Starrer ‘Be My Baby’ About Music Legend Ronnie Spector”. Deadline. Retrieved March 26, 2025. ↩

  55. Harris, Hunter (April 25, 2021). “How Barry Jenkins and Colson Whitehead Made The Underground Railroad “. Town & Country. Retrieved May 14, 2023. ↩

  56. Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 12, 2018). “‘Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins Joins Chadwick Boseman On Uni Thriller ‘Expatriate’“. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2024. ↩

  57. Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 3, 2019). “Barry Jenkins To Direct Alvin Ailey Movie For Fox Searchlight”. Deadline. Retrieved March 14, 2025. ↩

  58. Ruimy, Jordan (December 5, 2024). “Barry Jenkins Says Working on ‘Mufasa’ Was “Not My Thing”; Potentially Sets Next Film”. World of Reel. Retrieved March 16, 2025. ↩

  59. N’Duka, Amanda (June 23, 2020). “Oscar Winner Barry Jenkins Teams With Leonardo DiCaprio & Netflix On Film Adaptation Of ‘Virunga’ Documentary”. Deadline. Retrieved July 24, 2020. ↩

  60. Perez, Rodrigo (September 24, 2020). “‘The Knick’ Returns: Steven Soderbergh Says Barry Jenkins & AndrĂ© Holland Are Plotting A New Season & A Pilot Is Written [Exclusive]“. The Playlist. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020. ↩

  61. Galas, Marj (January 26, 2017). “Florida State Classmates Helped Make Barry Jenkins’ ‘Moonlight’ Shine”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2021. ↩

  62. Mottram, James (May 11, 2021). “Barry Jenkins interview: ‘If we can’t bear witness to brutality, we risk erasing my ancestors’“. The Independent. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021. ↩

  63. Sims, David (December 8, 2018). “How Barry Jenkins Turned His James Baldwin Obsession Into His Next Movie”. The Atlantic. Retrieved February 17, 2022. ↩ ↩2

  64. Gillespie, Michael Boyce (2016). Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film. Duke University Press. p. 133. doi:10.1515/9780822373889. ISBN 978-0-8223-7388-9. ↩

  65. Zaman, Farihah (2016). “Song of Myself”. Film Comment. 52 (5): 40– 42. ISSN 0015-119X. JSTOR 44990372. ↩

  66. Grant, Colin (June 11, 2021). “The Underground Railroad review: Escaping the savagery of a society built on enslavement”. Times Literary Supplement. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021. ↩

  67. Stuckey, J. Ken (January–February 2017). “Talk Like a Man”. The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 24 (1). ↩

  68. 6 ↩

  69. Walcott, Rinaldo (2019). “Moonlight’s Necessaary Company”. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 25 (2): 337– 341. doi:10.1215/10642684-7367792. ISSN 1064-2684. S2CID 164260509. ↩

  70. Robert Randolph, Jr (September 2016). “Moonlight”. Queer Studies in Media and Popular Culture. 3 (3). ↩

  71. McCune, Jeffrey Q. (2019). Black Sexual Economies: Race and Sex in a Culture of Capital. University of Illinois Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780252042645. ↩

  72. Peter., Lurie (2018). American Obscurantism. History and the Visual in U.S. Literature and Film. Oxford University Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-19-979731-8. OCLC 1056195413. ↩

  73. 16 ↩

  74. Kearse, Stephen (July 27, 2021). “Barry Jenkins’s American Saga”. The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved July 28, 2021. ↩

  75. Woodward, Adam (February 11, 2017). “Barry Jenkins: ‘Where I come from, people just don’t have the means to make a film’“. Little White Lies. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2021. ↩

  76. Gardner, Chris (March 13, 2019). “New Power Couple Alert: Barry Jenkins Makes Red Carpet Debut With Indie Filmmaker Lulu Wang”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 1, 2024. ↩

  77. Stenzel, Wesley (December 11, 2024). ” Moonlight director Barry Jenkins marries The Farewell filmmaker Lulu Wang”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024. ↩

  78. Bentley, Jean (April 30, 2017). “Inside ‘Dear White People’s’ Pivotal and Emotional Fifth Episode”. www.hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020. ↩

  79. Kilday, Greg (November 11, 2016). “How ‘Moonlight’ Became a “Personal Memoir” for Director Barry Jenkins: “I Knew the Story Like the Back of My Hand"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021. ↩

Graph View

Backlinks