Barry Jenkins Quotes

"Art is inherently political. Even trying to make a film that has nothing to do with politics is, in and of itself, a political act."

"'Moonlight' is a story that hasn't been told. Whether placed as queer black cinema or urban male cinema, the lack of coming-of-age films featuring people like Chiron and set in places like inner-city Miami is pronounced and unfortunate."

"As a writer, a blank page will humble the hell out of you. It always does, and it always will."

"You walk on a set, and you have no idea - that's why I don't storyboard. It's all possible."

"'Moonlight' isn't an issue film. It's not about addiction, it's not about sexuality, it's not about identity. It's about all these different layers, because they are all a part of the character."

"If you try to create something that everybody can relate to, you're gonna make something that nobody can relate to."

"Sometimes, how you ingest this idea of masculinity as projected onto you by the world could be the difference of life and death."

"I think everybody can identify, you know, with this sort of struggle to decide for yourself who you are, you know, and what your place in life is."

"At school, film-making had been the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me. Then I get to L.A., and it's this whole other thing. I checked out."

"A month alone would make me so happy. Not good for my dating prospects."

"'Moonlight' changed me. To see people so moved by this movie inspires me to find something else to offer. And maybe the next one touches only five people or maybe just one person. To me, you know, that would still be worth it."

"Filmmaking is a very privileged art form. It costs a lot of money to make these things."

"I just came back from my hometown, making a movie about a kid who grew up just like me, and it was financed by white people in New York. Personally, I can't be angry. In my personal experience, the support was there."

"Growing up, I wasn't the most vocal kid in the world. I feel like I learned through observation, and usually, when you're watching things, you're not speaking. That sort of metastasized in a way that I began to participate less and less in the world."

"It's interesting because I think class is a heavy, heavy part of 'Moonlight,' and I think, in a certain way, through the sum of all these parts, it's become a commentary on the black experience in America."

"To me, no matter who you're casting for what role, if something's authentic, usually you can mine something good there."

"I'm always about, 'What is the most productive version of what I'm putting into the world?' Something that can be engaged by all folks. I don't have to change everyone."

"In hip-hop, sometimes that pace is so fast that you miss things. I don't mean literally miss lyrics; I just think there's an emotion in what these cats are saying that gets by you. When you slow things down, there's this emotion, this yearning."

"The way I work, things are very nuanced; not everything is explained."

"Cinema is a little over 100 years old, and a lot of what we do is built around film emulsion. Those things were calibrated for white skin. We've always placed powder on skin to dull the light. But my memory of growing up in Miami is this moist, beautiful black skin."

"I'm so damn boring. I like reading and writing and making coffee. And walking. Barry Jenkins likes long walks."

"Film is not an amazing medium to relay interiority. I think literature is much better for that."

"I got into film school. I went and didn't know anything about it. Over the course of two years, I kind of got kind of good at it. You know, I had a brief moment where I wasn't sure if I could do it. I didn't know you needed light to expose film."

"I've worked at this film festival in Telluride called the Telluride Film Festival. Been there since 2002. I used to make popcorn. I was an usher. Cleaned toilets, everything. Grew up there as a kid."

"I wasn't known as a neighborhood tough or anything like that. But yeah, I was, like, a scrappy kid. You know, I kind of kept to myself, you know?"

"I really sort of kept to myself. I kind of just watched the world. And I think to keep people from messing with me, yeah, you know, I went out to run track. I went out for the football team. Not because I love track or love football."

"I was hiding behind athletics and all my jockitude, so I didn't have to deal with being ostracized as the weird art kid."

"As a filmmaker, I really want to utilize the tools to carry the voice - my voice, and the voice of the characters."

"I'm process-orientated. Awards, by their nature, are results-orientated."

"Making films. It gave me a voice. Legitimately saved me."