With every new story, director Barry Jenkins argues for hope The director of Moonlight and The Underground Railroad keeps reaching for connection Photo: Amazon Studios At first glance, the epic 10-hour series The Underground Railroad seems to operate counter to filmmaker Barry Jenkins’ hope-inducing repertoire. Nobody puts Black love on the screen the way Jenkins does, and that’s because the Best Picture-winning filmmaker loves every facet of Blackness, from the luminescent beauty of Black skin to the therapeutic joys Black folks find in each other. But what beauty exists in a slave narrative? What joy? The Underground Railroad appears antithetical to the hallmarks of Jenkins’ past works.