Say what you will about the awards season, but we should all be grateful for a year that gives us both “La La Land” and “Moonlight.” And while some have been positioning one movie against the other as we head into the Oscars, director Barry Jenkins isn’t having any of it.
“I wasn’t on set thinking, ‘I’m going to make a film that can take down the ‘white, fascist musical,’ just like I’m sure Damien wasn’t on set thinking, ‘I’m going to make a movie that can take down the gay, black, hood love story told in an art-house way,’ ” Jenkins told Vulture earlier this month. “It just doesn’t work that way. Just like all these movies [like ‘Moonlight,’ ‘Fences,’ and ‘Hidden Figures‘] are being framed as a response to #OscarsSoWhite — I think they all arose in a vacuum, and they just arrived at this moment. It’s great for people out there who need a narrative, but we’re just trying to make art.”
READ MORE: The 50 Best Romantic Films Of The 21st Century So Far
And there’s no question that Jenkins has made art with “Moonlight,” and great art inspires others, and his film has done just that. Fellow filmmaker Anna Rose Helmer, who was behind the camera for the well-received indie “The Fits,” has put together a dance inspired take on “Moonlight.” Choreographed by Alvin Ailey American Dance artistic director Robert Battl, and performed by Jamar Roberts, Christopher Taylor and Jeremy T. Villas, it’s lovely stuff, and a nice reminder in the midst of the awards season scrum of how movies can find unique ways to resonate in other mediums. [Film School Rejects]