Biography
Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film My Josephine (2003), he directed his first feature film, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. He is also a creative collaborator and a member of The Chopstars collective. Following an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking, Jenkins directed and co-wrote the LGBTQ-themed independent drama Moonligh...
Known For
Complete Filmography
Sorry, Baby
2025
Producer
Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on… for everyone around her, at least.
I Wish You Would
2025
Executive Producer
On his first day out in the world after being released from a 5250 (the police code for a mental health arrest), Stanley is beset by troubles at every...
The Fire Inside
2024
Producer, Writer
Claressa Shields, a high school junior from Flint, Michigan, aided by her tough-love coach, Jason Crutchfield, pushes past all limitations to become t...
Mufasa: The Lion King
2024
Director
Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journ...
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
2023
Producer
Tender caresses and enveloping embraces are portals into the life of Mack, a Black woman in Mississippi. Winding through the anticipation, love, and h...
Another Young Couple
2023
Another Young Couple — borne out of a camera test for If Beale Street Could Talk, James and I asked my friends Essence and Jihaari, newly transplanted...
Another Young Couple
2023
Director
Another Young Couple — borne out of a camera test for If Beale Street Could Talk, James and I asked my friends Essence and Jihaari, newly transplanted...
Weapons and Their Names
2023
Associate Producer
Struggling to connect with her grieving family after the sudden death of her stepfather, a teenager sneaks off to shoot guns in rural Florida with her...
Aftersun
2022
Producer
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill t...
The Gaze
2021
Director
In all my years of doing press, I've been repeatedly asked about the white gaze. Rarely have I been set upon about the Black gaze; or the gaze distill...
Neighbors
2021
Thanks
An older reclusive woman develops a close relationship with her recently widowed neighbor in an attempt to allow herself to be loved.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
2020
Executive Producer
A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.
Charm City Kings
2020
Story
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, ...
If Beale Street Could Talk
2018
Director, Screenplay, Producer
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Moonlight
2016
Director, Screenplay
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecsta...
Reagan
2016
Thanks
When Reagan, a fifteen-year-old sex worker, leaves her East Oakland group home, she is forced to redefine the concept of family in an unfamiliar lands...
The High Five
2014
Producer
On October 2nd, 1977 Dusty Baker hit his 30th homerun of the season. As Baker rounded the bases, an excited rookie named Glenn Burke met him at home p...
King's Gym
2013
Director
Oakland, California's "boxing gym of champions" is showcased here, its historic walls lined with posters for matches boasting past regulars from Georg...
Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse
2013
as Star King Zorzdon Pxxa
A true story behind the notorious Miami face-eating cannibal and how the Miami Heat won the NBA title in 2012 despite one of their star players being ...
Sun Don't Shine
2013
Thanks
Crystal and her boyfriend Leo embark on a tense and mysterious road trip through the desolate yet hauntingly beautiful landscape of central Florida.
Chlorophyl
2011
Director, Writer
The story of a young girl and her fleeting relationship with a scoundrel.
Remigration
2011
Writer, Producer, Director
Upon returning to their countryside cabin one day, Kaya, his wife Helen, and their daughter Naomi are confronted by two suited men: representatives of...
Tall Enough
2009
Director, Writer
Love knows no borders in this stylish snapshot of interracial coupledom. Two Brooklyn photographers (she, African-American; he, Chinese-American) meet...
A Young Couple
2009
Director
A couple discuss their relationship.
One Shot
2009
Director
Its single hand-held shot lends both immediacy of viewpoint and a floating unreality to a young woman's visit to a Seattle convenience store, seemingl...
Medicine for Melancholy
2009
Director, Writer
Waking from a one-night stand that neither remembers, Micah and Joanne find themselves wandering the streets of San Francisco, sharing coffee and conv...
Little Brown Boy
2003
Director, Writer
A little brown boy gets caught up in a violent shooting and must come to terms with the incident and the part he has played.
My Josephine
2003
Director, Writer
Aadid tells us his life in seven minutes. He's an Arabic-speaking young man working the night shift at a laundromat and dry cleaners somewhere in the ...
The Intuitionist
N/A
Writer, Director
An adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s first book.
Untitled Alvin Ailey Project
N/A
Director, Executive Producer
The life story of acclaimed American choreographer Alvin Ailey.
Untitled Barry Jenkins 'Virunga' Adaptation
N/A
Writer
A feature adaptation of the 2014 Oscar-nominated documentary VIRUNGA.
Preparation for the Next Life
N/A
Executive Producer
Upon her release from a detention centre, undocumented Uyghur immigrant Aishe moves to New York City, vowing to outrun the many things chasing her.
Night Bloom
N/A
Executive Producer
In the middle of a quiet but restless night, Hazel and her father Mackie find themselves confined to their respective corners of their Bronx apartment...
The Natural Order
N/A
Director, Writer
Described as an elevated sci-fi thriller revolving around the pursuit of eternal life.
Be My Baby
N/A
Director
Follows the life of singer Ronnie Spector who grew up in Spanish Harlem and started girl group the Ronettes and her tumultuous marriage with producer ...