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 capricious man who is suspicious of his wife spells her out of the house with her little son Nemat who is a cripple. The boy grows up while working in various jobs from selling oil in
A brief look at two Barry Jenkins films that have established him as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.
What seems like such a simple story of survival is so much more than that—it’s a story of family, and of war, and of destruction. It’s painful to watch, but not in a bad way. It makes its audience reflect on their own actions, and in how they are complicit in the sufferings of others as the adults in this film are. Grave of the Fireflies does not hold back from being heartbreaking, and it shouldn’t. It tells a message that needs to be heard decades after the war, and a story that cannot be forgotten by history.
Not only does the system prevent upward mobility, but it makes it incredibly easy to slide from comfortably middle class to unhoused.
An action film led by two queens, fighting for what they believe in through power and pain.
The sequel to the first film, A Second Chance: Rivals! talks about Maddy combating cyberbullying and racism.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi), Knives Out was one of the most clever and intricately crafted films of 2019.