---
name: "Barry Jenkins"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/barry-jenkins"
fi1m_id: "barry-jenkins"
imdb_id: "nm1503575"
tmdb_id: 92784
wikidata_id: "Q26821227"
roles: ["Director","Producer","Writer"]
born: "19 November 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-22T02:15:03.037048+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Barry Jenkins

## Identity

Barry Jenkins

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/barry-jenkins
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** barry-jenkins
- **IMDb ID:** nm1503575
- **TMDB ID:** 92784
- **Wikidata ID:** Q26821227
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Jenkins, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26821227, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1503575/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/92784

Director and producer. Born 19 November 1979 in Miami, Florida, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer, Writer
- **Born:** 19 November 1979, Miami, Florida, USA
- **Active:** 2014–present
- **Also known as:** باري جينكينز
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 9: 4 directing, 4 producing, 1 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Adele Romanski](https://film.one/person/adele-romanski.md), [Mark Ceryak](https://film.one/person/mark-ceryak.md), [Dede Gardner](https://film.one/person/dede-gardner.md), [Jeremy Kleiner](https://film.one/person/jeremy-kleiner.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 83 (3), 2020s 75 (6)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 80 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Family 1, Romance 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $808m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Jenkins, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26821227, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1503575/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/92784

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Moonlight*](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md) (89), [*Mufasa: The Lion King*](https://film.one/film/mufasa-the-lion-king.md) (57)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Underground Railroad*](https://film.one/tv/the-underground-railroad.md) (86), [*If Beale Street Could Talk*](https://film.one/film/if-beale-street-could-talk.md) (81)
- **HBO Max:** [*Sorry, Baby*](https://film.one/film/sorry-baby.md) (81)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Barry Jenkins

> Barry Jenkins is at his best with a face held close and feelings left unspoken. We rate his patience with people highly, though his images and music sometimes insist on what the actors have already made clear.

A character looks straight into the lens, and Jenkins lets the look last. He gives us time to notice what a face does when someone is not speaking. In *Moonlight* (2016), he follows Chiron, a Black gay boy, through three stages of life, leaving much of his struggle unspoken. We were moved by Chiron’s silences, which make his fear of showing himself to others painfully clear.

The screenplay, drawn from a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, trusts the actors with that difficulty, sometimes too much. The jumps between ages leave us wanting more of Chiron’s ordinary days, to understand how he has changed. A look occasionally has to explain what another scene might have shown, while the music and images can press an emotion that is already clear. We still recommend it strongly; the gaps never made us care less about Chiron.

His feature debut, the San Francisco romance *Medicine for Melancholy* (2008), came eight years before *Moonlight*. Then came two literary adaptations: *If Beale Street Could Talk* (2018), from James Baldwin, and the limited series *The Underground Railroad* (2021), from Colson Whitehead. His attention remains on Black characters and the pressures shaping what they can say or do. Cinematographer James Laxton’s fluid camerawork helps him stay close to what people are feeling.

*Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024) is a less convincing turn towards family entertainment, though it has stretches worth seeing. Laxton takes the camera into a flood, beneath brown water and back past tumbling trees, making good use of a viewpoint no real camera could occupy. Production designer Mark Friedberg supplies a flooded valley and a snowy mountain pass that give the journey places worth looking at. Jenkins keeps us at cub height and circles the animals as they talk. The songs are forgettable, though, and the comic framing device repeatedly interrupts the story.

The deeper problem is that his lions cannot do what his human performers do: a lowered head must stand for grief or shame, with the voices supplying the rest. That is a poor fit for a director so attentive to what a person leaves unsaid. Start with *Moonlight*, and give its actors the same attention he does.

## Biography

Barry Jenkins is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Born on 19 November 1979 in Miami, Florida, he made his feature debut with *Medicine for Melancholy* (2008) after the short *My Josephine* (2003).

Jenkins directed and co-wrote *Moonlight* (2016), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and *If Beale Street Could Talk* (2018). He directed *Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024) and was a producer on *Aftersun* (2022). His television credits include directing an episode of *Dear White People* (2017) and creating the limited series *The Underground Railroad* (2021).

*Sources: hollywoodreporter.com, imdb.com, screendaily.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024), Fi1m 57, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/mufasa-the-lion-king.md)
- *The Underground Railroad* (2021), Fi1m 86, Creator, Director, Teleplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-underground-railroad.md)
- *If Beale Street Could Talk* (2018), Fi1m 81, Screenplay, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/if-beale-street-could-talk.md)
- *Moonlight* (2016), Fi1m 89, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md)

### Produced (4)

- *Sorry, Baby* (2025), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/sorry-baby.md)
- *Aftersun* (2022), Fi1m 85, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/aftersun.md)
- *Never Rarely Sometimes Always* (2020), Fi1m 84, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/never-rarely-sometimes-always.md)
- *True Detective* (2014), Fi1m 80, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md)

### Crew (1)

- *The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable* (2026), Fi1m 55, Additional Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-disciple-2026.md)

## Complete filmography (40)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Fence* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Preparation for the Next Life* (2025), Producer
- *Sorry, Baby* (2025), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/sorry-baby.md)
- *Harvest* (2025), Thanks
- *I Wish You Would* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Night Bloom* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024), Director — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/mufasa-the-lion-king.md)
- *The Fire Inside* (2024), Producer, Writer
- *All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt* (2023), Producer
- *Another Young Couple* (2023), Director
- *Weapons and Their Names* (2023), Associate Producer
- *Aftersun* (2022), Producer — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/aftersun.md)
- *The Underground Railroad* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Director, Teleplay, Creator — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-underground-railroad.md)
- *The Gaze* (2021), Director
- *Neighbors* (2021), Thanks
- *Never Rarely Sometimes Always* (2020), Executive Producer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/never-rarely-sometimes-always.md)
- *Charm City Kings* (2020), Story
- *The Last Black Man in San Francisco* (2019), Associate Producer
- *If Beale Street Could Talk* (2018), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/if-beale-street-could-talk.md)
- *Dear White People* (2017), series, Director
- *Moonlight* (2016), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md)
- *Reagan* (2016), Thanks
- *The High Five* (2014), Producer
- *True Detective* (2014), series, Executive Producer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md)
- *King's Gym* (2013), Director
- *Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse* (2013), as Star King Zorzdon Pxxa
- *Sun Don't Shine* (2013), Thanks
- *Chlorophyl* (2011), Writer, Director
- *Remigration* (2011), Writer, Producer, Director
- *Tall Enough* (2009), Director, Writer
- *A Young Couple* (2009), Director
- *One Shot* (2009), Director
- *Medicine for Melancholy* (2009), Director, Writer
- *Little Brown Boy* (2003), Director, Writer
- *My Josephine* (2003), Director, Writer
- *The Natural Order*, Director, Writer
- *Untitled Alvin Ailey Project*, Director, Executive Producer
- *Untitled Barry Jenkins 'Virunga' Adaptation*, Writer
- *Be My Baby*, Director
- *The Intuitionist*, Director, Writer

## Gallery

- ![Barry Jenkins, producer, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Canada](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-480d80795b1a.jpg) Barry Jenkins, producer, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Canada — Frank Sun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Barry_Jenkins_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Barry_Jenkins_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![BARRY & CLAY - BARRY'S 30TH (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-639d97d68207.jpg) BARRY & CLAY - BARRY'S 30TH (2009) — Jared eberhardt from Los Angeles, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Barry_Jenkins_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Barry Jenkins and Rachel Morrison at the premiere of "The Fire Inside" during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-0ea539a7cfc1.jpg) Barry Jenkins and Rachel Morrison at the premiere of "The Fire Inside" during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — Frank Sun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Barry_Jenkins_and_Rachel_Morrison_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Barry_Jenkins_and_Rachel_Morrison_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Barry Jenkins at a Q&A session for The Underground Railroad at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California, United States (2024)](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-ab3ad7597f90.jpg) Barry Jenkins at a Q&A session for The Underground Railroad at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California, United States (2024) — hinnk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Barry_Jenkins_BAMPFA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Barry Jenkins](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-84b84a5ccff3.jpg) Barry Jenkins — Image via TMDB
- ![Speaking about his film Medicine for Melancholy at the Northwest Film Forum. Go see it! (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/421/gallery-6a54f32ac662.jpg) Speaking about his film Medicine for Melancholy at the Northwest Film Forum. Go see it! (2009) — yancy9, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Barry_Jenkins_%283311091528%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 2019: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *If Beale Street Could Talk*
- 2017: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *Moonlight*
- 2017: Best Director (nominated), for *Moonlight*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Time 100 2017: Time 100 (won)
- Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director 2016: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director (won), for *Moonlight*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/barry-jenkins