Barry Jenkins

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. ”

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. ”

I think it's really important to remind, reinforce people that their lives have value, you know? That their lives have worth. ”

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

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. ”

I have friends who I consider my peers, who have done amazing work, particularly in the film and television space, who came up as independent artists and who have been - to be brutally honest - much more prolific than I was able to be. ”

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

I'm very much a person of nurture over nature. When the world is not nurturing, it can really change a man. ”

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. ”

There were times when we didn't have hot water or a phone line. But I guarantee you, we always had cable, and it was always on. ”