"The movie is like a fever dream … I wanted to immerse you guys in the story … I wanted you guys to wallow in the shit of what I grew up in." Barry Jenkins ( Director)
This year's best. A film that leaves you feeling both stripped naked and restored.
Told in three chapters that cover a period of about 16 years, Moonlight is the coming of age story of an African-American man who was known as Little when he was ten years old, then Chiron in middle school, and Black in his late twenties. Little is a painfully shy boy, and lives with his overworked and drug-addicted mom in an area hit by a crack epidemic in Florida. Bullied at school, beaten down by a harsh home life, and with strong feelings for a classmate, Chiron risks becoming a statistic: another black man dominated and ultimately destroyed by the system. By the end, Black - having entered and left prison - is a strong, thick-skinned man who is still soul-searching. An impeccably crafted study of African-American masculinity, a penetrating love story, and a powerful testament to the human need to feel connected; Moonlight is a masterpiece where poetics meets politics.
2016 TORONTO, NEW YORK, LONDON, CHICAGO
Writer-director Barry Jenkins studied at Florida State University. He has directed several shorts. He is known for his 2008 feature debut Medicine for Melancholy (!f 2009). Moonlight (2016) is his second feature film and one of the strongest nominees for the Oscar.
