“Plan B” for “Moonlight” and “A24” Independent production company protects challenging original projects and artistry

"Moonlight" synopsis

Her name is Sharon and her nickname is Little. Due to his shy personality, he is called a ``faggot'' at school and is often targeted by bullies. Sharon doesn't even know what those words mean, but her only friend is her classmate Kevin. Even after becoming high school students, nothing has changed in their daily lives, but one night on a moonlit beach, Sharon and Kevin touch each other's hearts for the first time.

89th Academy Awards. The low-budget film `` Moonlight '' (16) by an unknown black director won the prestigious Best Picture award, beating out the blockbuster ` `La La Land '' (16). How did this film, which was his second full-length feature and win three awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, come about?

Index

• update black movies
• Fusion of classical and modern, challenge of production
• Having an excellent production company on your side

update black movies

The director of this film, Barry Jenkins, was born and raised in Miami, and after The Graduate from film school in his hometown of Florida, he worked with several people, including his schoolmates, cinematographer James Ruxton and editor Nat Sanders, on a budget of 1.5 million yen. Filmed an independent film called ``Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008). The film, which delicately depicts a fleeting romance between a young black man and a woman in near-black-and-white tones, was well-received by film festivals and critics, but it was not a commercial success, and Jenkins took a break from films for a while. .

After that, while making a living as a commercial director and working on the idea for his next work with Adele Romanski, a producer and friend from his school days, he decided to write a play called ``In Moonlight Black Boys'' written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. ``Look Blue'' was recommended to me by word of mouth. This work was a semi-autobiographical story of McCraney himself, but what was surprising was its content. This is because the main character, a black man, and Jenkins had almost the same background.

“Moonlight” (C) 2016 A24 Distribution, LLC

In fact, they happened to be born and raised in the same Miami neighborhood and school, and their mothers were drug addicts. Also, unusual for a black film, the main theme was LGBTQ identity, and Director Jenkins, who admired the sexual and romantic style, decided to adapt this work himself.

In order to make a cutting-edge black film that has never been seen before, he will update his film discourse and solidify his direction toward experimental production. As he revealed in an interview after it was completed, the work that influenced him the most when creating this work was Wong Kar-wai's `` Happy Together '' (1997). Who could have imagined 20 years ago that today's young writers who hate stereotypical images of black people and are trying to evolve their expressions would resonate with Wong Kar-wai's artistry, which is based on the uniqueness of Hong Kong? Is it?

“Moonlight” (C) 2016 A24 Distribution, LLC

As a story of love that transcends gender, both the camera composition and the music pay homage to the film, including the same music by Caetano Veloso . (The song " Kukurukuku Paloma " was also used in Pedro Almodovar's " Talk to Her " (2002), in which the musician himself appears).Other references include Hou Hsiao-hsien, Nagisa Oshima, They are legends in the art film field, such as Godard and Claire Denis. Continuing from the first film, he worked with cinematographer James Laxton and editor Nat Sanders to shoot the film in 25 days, an extremely short number of days for an American film.

Fusion of classical and modern, challenge of production