In 'Moonlight,' director saw a chance to tell his own story

When Barry Jenkins first read Tarell Alvin McCraney's story, "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue," about an African-American youngster growing up in Miami, he recognized home.

"You know, I hadn't seen anyone tell the story of this neighborhood, that Tarell and I are from, Liberty City," Jenkins said. "Which is kind of like the south side of Chicago, or Compton in L.A., kind of Miami. And he did it in a way that was really visceral."

Jenkins didn't know McCraney, but the theater world does. He's an actor and a playwright whose work has been performed around the country, including at the Guthrie in Minneapolis. His story about Liberty City followed the life of a kid called Chiron, first as a 9-year-old, then as a high schooler, then as a young man. In McCraney's story Jenkins recognized something else: himself.

"It just felt really personal, despite the fact that it didn't originate with me," he said. "And as a filmmaker, that's the holy grail."

The result is the film "Moonlight," which opens in Minneapolis this weekend. Many critics says it's one of the must-see films of the year.

Chiron faces many challenges: He's bullied, he's poor and he's gay. And there was something else very familiar to Jenkins: Chiron's mom is a crack addict.

"My mom went through this struggle with addiction, so vividly depicted by Naomie Harris in the film, and I hadn't seen that told, either," Jenkins said. "And that's where I really saw myself in this very authentic sort of way."

The two decided to collaborate, and began passing ideas back and forth. Then McCraney got some really good news that changed everything.

"He became a MacArthur Genius, and once he did, he was too busy to do the writing," said Jenkins.

But their prep work paid off. They had talked it through so much, McCraney knew exactly what Jenkins intended to do.

"And so he just sort of gave me the green light," Jenkins said. "He trusted me to go off and take authorship of the piece."

"Moonlight" plays out in three acts, with three actors playing Chiron. Each is quite different, but Jenkins believes in the idea that the eyes are windows into the soul.

"And I thought, if we can just find these three actors, these three young men, with the same eyes, we will have this soul that is carried forth across three chapters of the film," he said.

And that's what they did.

In the first act, Chiron is nicknamed "Little," because he is. After a gang of kids chases him into an abandoned house, he's rescued by an older man called Juan. Little refuses to talk, and Juan takes him in for the night. The next morning Juan takes Chiron home to his frantic mother.

"And who is you?" she asks Juan.

"Nobody," he says. "I found him yesterday. Some boys chased him in the cut. He's scared more than anything. Wouldn't tell me where he lived till this morning."

"Well, thanks for seeing to him," Little's mom says. "He usually can take care of hisself."

Juan reaches out to fist-bump Little.

"Little Man!" he says with a smile, but his mom scowls and pushes her son behind her.

Juan's a dealer. Little's mom is an addict. Both are complex characters, a long way from the stock portrayals often presented in film and TV today. Again, Jenkins said, it gets back to this being a personal story.

"This is just our version of the people we knew," he said. "And not us attempting to take something from outside."

Jenkins marvels that audiences are finding themselves in this specific story. "Moonlight" has been an audience and critical favorite on the festival circuit. Last weekend it won the best film award at the Twin Cities Film Festival.

That particularly pleased Jenkins, who admitted his concern that the excitement was just coming from the coasts. Now, as the film hits commercial theaters, he just wants to see where it goes.

"I'm stoked, man," he said. "And I hope the train keeps rolling. By which I mean I hope people keep seeing themselves in the film."

And with awards season approaching, that can only help.