Quintessential Directors: Barry Jenkins
A brief look at two Barry Jenkins films that have established him as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.

A foreign student, stranded on campus over winter break, decides to make a video diary.
A brief look at two Barry Jenkins films that have established him as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.
In the film adaptation, director Jon M. Chu turns each musical number into a massive show stopper, with grand set pieces and a wealth of diverse dancers. Yet, in this attempt to show reverence for the people of the Washington Heights barrio, Chu, or maybe more specifically those in charge of casting, left out a crucial part of the community, Afro-Latinos.
Eventually, “Hobbs and Shaw” introduces us to a Samoan community. Clearly, Johnson’s Samoan roots are on display. Quite frankly, I found this section of the film very intriguing. The “Fast and Furious” franchise has a solid track record in the diversity department
Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion is a fan-favorite, as are some of the more science fiction angled movies like 28 Days Later or World War Z. I recently watched the 1995 Wolfgang Peterson-directed movie, Outbreak for the first time, which is currently available on Netflix.
In ‘The Owl House’ protagonist Luz Noceda stumbles across a portal to another dimension where magic exists, called The Boiling Isles.