Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film My Josephine, he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature for Medicine for Melancholy (2008). Following an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking, Jenkins directed and co-wrote the LGBT-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. 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 earned nominations for his screenplay at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.