Barry Jenkins

“I saw this at the Berkeley film archives. I can't even describe how good this movie is. Love this movie, so glad it's in the collection and I'm going to take this. I can hopefully get Andrew to sign it for me.”

“I remember getting on eBay and ordering this because I felt like I had to see it. The fact that somebody had made something that was 10 hours, I was like, you can't make anything that's 10 hours. So when I was in film school this was the film, this was the thing you got together like on a Saturday afternoon, you drank a few beers and you just watch this thing over and over again.”

“Where's the Ratcatcher DVD by the way? The first Criterion Barry Jenkins ever owned was Ratcatcher. Blu-ray for this one please. And this movie, and there's an interview with Lynne where she talks about blending actors and non-actors. Especially in Moonlight, I still use some of the things Lynne talks about.”

“George Washington is the second Criterion I ever own, which pretty much is just because I was in film school making shorts about young black people and I remember not realizing David Gordon Green was a white dude when I first saw the film. In my first film Medicine for Melancholy, we actually replicated that scene where people sitting around in a circle.”

“I will take this because I don't own it and out of respect for the form. I've seen this too many times to recount but out of respect for the form I can never see it too many times so I must take this.”

“I'm only taking one more.”

“Foundational. Talk about empathy, you know, both in the film but also just having empathy for the actors and what they're going through. Like, there's a film school in this box set. This is a bit overwhelming, there's just too much good here.”