Barry JENKINS

Director, script writer

United States

Barry Jenkins © David Bornfriend

Barry Jenkins was born and raised in Miami and studied Film at Florida State University. His feature film debut, Medicine for Melancholy, was hailed as one of the best films of 2009 by “The New York Times”. In 2017, Barry Jenkins along with playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his second feature Moonlight, which won Best Picture at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes (Drama). Most recently, Barry Jenkins directed an episode of the Netflix Original Series Dear White People. Upcoming projects include an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad for television. He’s also writing a script based on the life of the first American female olympic boxing champ Claressa “T-Rex” Shields. Barry Jenkins is a curator at the Telluride Film Festival and a United States Artists Smith Fellow.

Jury attendance

  • Member Cinéfondation & Short Films, 2017