TSPDT

Key Production Country: USA
Key Genres: Drama, Romantic Drama, Urban Drama, Slice of Life, Coming-of-Age, Romance
Key Collaborators: James Laxton (Cinematographer), Nat Sanders (Editor), Joi McMillon (Editor), Nicholas Britell (Composer), Jeremy Kleiner (Producer), Dede Gardner (Producer), Adele Romanski (Producer), Mark Friedberg (Production Designer)

"Jenkins’ career is relatively young, but already demonstrates an interest in both original stories (Medicine) and adaptations of existing material (James Baldwin’s seminal Beale Street and Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Underground Railroad), an interest in the format of feature film (his first three works) and television miniseries (his fourth), in the modes of small-scale independent cinema (particularly Medicine) and the Hollywood blockbuster (his next directorial effort will be an untitled Lion King prequel). By examining the details of each of Jenkins’ four directed projects, by drawing parallels and making comparisons between them, it becomes increasingly clear that they unite as a body of work that stakes a claim for one of the vital voices in contemporary film and television." - George Kowalik (Offscreen, 2021)

"Barry Jenkins metamorphosed the landscape of the film industry, and it will never be the same. For that, we are all grateful. Jenkins is most renowned for his smash hit film Moonlight, but the director has a filmography that continues to redefine the industry. And at his age, we can expect films for decades to come. The arc of his artistic journey is not only impressive but it reveals that with enough passion and creative vision, one doesn’t need a huge budget or the biggest stars to make the film of the decade." - Filmmakers Academy

"In the current landscape of Cinema, Barry Jenkins has carved out a space for himself that exists at the intersection of arthouse excellence and mainstream success. Known for his powerful contributions to the New Queer canon and Black cinema, Jenkins is a true modern master." - Swapnil Dhruv Bose (Far Out Magazine, 2022)

"When Barry Jenkins makes a movie, he composes an elegy for the sweet life that almost happens. Refusing to hammer the audience with hyperbole or insincerity, the particulars of that unrealized future fall far outside the realm of pie-in-the-sky fantasies. In other words, instead of fame or riches or prestige, these characters ache for basic comforts: the togetherness of family, the warmth of familiar love, and the freedom to enjoy life without fear of premature death." - John Stanford Owen (Film Inquiry, 2019)

"Even before Jenkins became widely known for Moonlight, he was a storyteller dedicated to telling stories that spoke to him and his experience as a racial minority in the United States. For example, the short that garnered him a lot of attention was My Josephine (2003), a short film about Aadid (Basel Hamdan), an Arabic-speaking man who is living in America post 9/11. This student film helped put Jenkins on the map of many film festivals, eventually leading to his first independent feature film, Medicine for Melancholy (2008)." - Jordan Qin (Hollywood Insider, 2021)

"Formatively, there were some things that I watched in a very aggressive way, the more esoteric work of the LA Rebellion in particular, like Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, being amongst that work. That vibed more with what I thought was going to be my filmmaking voice." - Barry Jenkins (Sight & Sound, 2017)