Barry Jenkins was born and raised in Miami, studied filmmaking at Florida State University, then worked at Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions in Los Angeles. A passionate filmmaker, he directed several shorts and the San Francisco-set indie feature Medicine for Melancholy (2008), which was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. He has been a short film programmer at the Telluride Festival where he has also moderated panels and introduced screenings to thank sponsors and ask that cellphones be silenced. It is fitting then that his second feature has been hailed by critics and festivalgoers. The HFPA’s Diederik Van Hoogstraten spoke to him about the success of Moonlight, why the film is so personal to him and the current vital moment of black cinema.