Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
At an Annapurna reception for the awards contender, Vulture asked Jenkins which scene was his personal favorite.
Im into the simple shit, he began.
The scene where Fonny is working on his sculpture, near the end of the film.
Thats probably my favorite moment in the film.
InBeale Street, James plays Fonny, a Harlem artist falsely imprisoned for a rape he didnt commit.
Its nearly a blink-and-youll-miss-it moment, but its powerful.
Somehow Fonny still finds himself in a circumstance where his death becomes a reality.
And hes still trying to hold onto this thing that makes him whole, which is his work.
I can understand that what that feels like.
Adapting Baldwins novel was a long process, one that began long before Jenkins madeMoonlight.
In conversation and in the movies dedication at the end Jenkins calls Baldwin Jimmy.
Was it a process, coming to feel so comfortable with a writer hed idolized since his early twenties?
That card, at the end, used to say Dedicated to James Baldwin.
And then it was For Mr. Baldwin, and then it was For James Baldwin.
And then I was like, You know what?
It was fucking hell to make this movie.
Im going to make it say For Jimmy.
But Mr. Baldwin is not here to check me, to say,Dont call me Jimmy.
