A groundbreaking film on many levels, Moonlight is based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Barry Jenkins (1979, USA) and McCraney were raised in the same neighbourhood in Miami, which cultural critic Greg Tate defined as “a galaxy far, far away from the places it’s received world-cinema accolades from”. Jenkins studied Film at Florida State University and directed several shorts, of which the majority are included in the Black Rebels programme. These shorts eloquently testify to both his cinematographic and thematic signatures. His first feature, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), had restricted exposure, but gained critical acclaim in a circle of international art house and black cinema fans. Jenkins knows how to unveil issues around ethnicity, class and identity politics with great subtlety and understanding born of experience. Moonlight consolidated his unicity in the film industry. The emotional reception to this film by many viewers resonates with his own experience: “that means the world to me, because I know what it’s like to feel voiceless and unseen. When we don’t see images outside of ourselves, we feel invisible.”
