Book Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins is an American filmmaker celebrated for intimate, visually poetic storytelling. After his short My Josephine, he directed his first feature, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), which was nominated at the Independent Spirit Awards for best first feature. His second feature, Moonlight (2016), became a landmark: it won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Jenkins and co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney shared the adapted screenplay Oscar, and he was nominated for Best Director. He followed with If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), which drew critical praise and another adapted screenplay nomination at the Oscars. In television he directed an episode of Dear White People and created and directed the limited series The Underground Railroad (2021), which earned a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination for directing. He later directed Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King (2024). Jenkins was named to the Time 100 in 2017. As a speaker he offers a thoughtful perspective on independent filmmaking, adaptation, representation and moving from small budgets to major studio productions while keeping a personal voice.