Director Barry Jenkins: Moonlight may be beneficiary of Oscars diversity push…

ABOVE: Director Barry Jenkins

Moonlight director Barry Jenkins has said he is not sure his film would have scored eight Oscar nominations before the voting body’s diversity push.

The film, which follows a young black man struggling with his sexuality as he grows up in a deprived neighbourhood of Miami, has received nods including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor.

However, Barry said he is not sure the film would have been so successful if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes for the Oscars, had not expanded its voting body to include more young people and minorities after the #Oscarssowhite outrage surrounding last year’s ceremony.

Barry is the first black director to also be nominated for a screenplay prize in a best picture-nominated film.

If he wins the best director prize he would be the first black filmmaker to do so, but he is not letting the burden of history weigh on him.

He said: “It’s not my history. I’ve only made two films so history belongs to the governing body.

The film stars Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali and is tipped for Academy Award success. Let’s see what actually happens, folks!