Gregory Barnes’ The Touch of the Master’s Hand is a Mormon movie, a twelve-minute short about a young missionary ashamed of his masturbation habit. It premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and won the Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction. Despite its look into the cultural oddity of Mormonism, the film is relatable […]
Gregory Barnes
GREGORY BARNES is a filmmaker based in New York City and Los Angeles. Raised a faithful Mormon in Oak Park, IL, his films have been greatly influenced by the comedic absurdity of exiting that strange jello-obsessed-desert-religion. His most recent short, The Touch of the Master’s Hand won the Jury Prize for best U.S. fiction short at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Prior, his work has been featured in NPR, Playboy, and Pitchfork. While no longer a practicing Mormon, Barnes served a mission in Argentina and graduated with a BA in media studies from Brigham Young University. He is currently an MFA candidate in film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
