Elegance Bratton (born May 3, 1979) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

. He began his career in the 2010s, writing, directing, and producing a variety of projects including the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Walk for Me'', the

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' My House'', and the documentary film '' Pier Kids''. Bratton's feature film directorial debut, ''

The Inspection ''The Inspection'' is a 2022 American drama film written and directed by Elegance Bratton. Inspired by Bratton's real-life experiences, the film follows a young man who faces homophobia, both at a Marines boot camp and at home from his mother. I ...

'', premiered at the

2022 Toronto International Film Festival The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the 47th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from September 8 to 18, 2022. Festival organizers have indicated that the 2022 festival will be staged primar ...

and was released by

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

that November.

Early life

Elegance was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Phillipsburg, New Jersey Phillipsburg is a town located along the Delaware River in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located across the river directly east from Easton, Pennsylvania. Phillipsburg is the most populous municipality in Warren County w ...

. At age 16, he was kicked out of his home for being gay and spent 10 years being homeless before joining the Marines. He served as a combat camera production specialist in

Camp H. M. Smith Camp H. M. Smith is a United States Marine Corps installation in the Hawaiian town of Aiea on the island of Oahu, near the community of Halawa (ha-LA-va) Heights. It is the headquarters of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Spec ...

in Hawaii, shooting videos and taking photographs. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a degree in African American studies, and received his MFA from

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ar ...

for directing and writing.

Career

Bratton has worked as a director, writer, producer, and photographer since the early 2010s. His photographic compilation ''Bound by Night'' was shortlisted for the Kassel 2014 photo-book award. In 2016, he directed a

, ''Walk for Me'', as an assignment in his second year in the filmmaking program at Tisch. The film is about

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...

motherhood in

ballroom culture The Ballroom Scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in New York City. Beginning in the late 20th century, Black and Latino ...

. ''Walk for Me'' was released on the

Criterion Channel The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

years later. In 2018, Bratton directed the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, '' Pier Kids'', about three LGBTQ homeless youths in New York City; the film was released in 2019, and has been featured in various media outlets, such as the

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''

OUT Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. It presents itself in an editorial manner similar to ''Details'', ''Esquire'', ...

'', and

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

. Bratton's feature film directorial debut, titled ''

'', was announced in April 2021 with a cast that includes

Jeremy Pope Jeremy Pope (born July 9, 1992) is an American actor and singer. Pope is the sixth person in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories for separate performances during the same year, when he received nominations for Best Actor in a ...

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That' ...

Bokeem Woodbine Bokeem Woodbine (born April 13, 1973) is an American actor. In 1994 he portrayed Joshua, Jason's troubled brother, in ''Jason's Lyric''. He won a Black Reel Award, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Awar ...

, and

Raúl Castillo Raúl Castillo Jr. (born August 30, 1977) is an American actor and playwright. He is known for his acting roles in ''Amexicano'' and ''Cold Weather'' and his role as Richie Donado Ventura in the HBO series ''Looking'' and its subsequent series ...

, with

Gamechanger Films Gamechanger Films is an American company that finances independent films directed by women. History Gamechanger Films was founded in 2013 by Julie Parker Benello, Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous, Wendy Ettinger. Mynette Louie was the President, De ...

set to produce, and

set to produce and distribute. Bratton also wrote the screenplay. The film had its world premiere at the

on September 8, 2022. It also screened at the 60th New York Film Festival on October 14, 2022, the Austin Film Festival on October 29, 2022, before being released theatrically in the United States on November 18, 2022 by A24.

Favorite films

In 2022, Bratton participated in the ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice. Bratton selections were: * ''

The Battle of Algiers ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir , director = Gillo Pontecorvo , producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef , writer = Franco Solinas , story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo , starring = Jean MartinSaadi Yacef Brahim Ha ...

'' (1966) * ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

'' (1976) * ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and the second insta ...

'' (2008) * ''

Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel ''The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew M ...

'' (1987) * ''

Paris Is Burning Paris Is Burning may refer to: * ''Paris Is Burning'' (film), a 1990 documentary film * "Paris Is Burning" (''Gilmore Girls''), the eleventh episode of ''Gilmore Girls first season * "Paris Is Burning", a song from the 1983 album '' Breaking the Ch ...

'' (1990) * ''

Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, a ...

'' (1989) * ''

All about My Mother ''All About My Mother'' ( es, link=no, Todo sobre mi madre) is a 1999 comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan, Penélope Cruz and Rosa Maria Sardà. ...

'' (1999) * '' Imitation of Life'' (1959) * ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...

'' (1976) * ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

'' (1993)

Filmography

Accolades

In 2022, Bratton was named a

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

(USA) Fellow. On October 22, 2022, he received the Breakthrough Director & Writer Award at the

Montclair Film Festival Montclair Film is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works from American and inter ...

. On January 27, 2023, Bratton was the inaugural recipient of the Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award from

Coolidge Corner Theatre Coolidge Corner Theatre is an independent cinema in the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts specializing in international, documentary, animated, and independent film selections and series. History Coolidge Corner Theatre was origi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bratton, Elegance Living people American documentary filmmakers American film producers 21st-century American photographers American LGBT film directors LGBT people from New Jersey People from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Phillipsburg, New Jersey 1979 births Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni American LGBT photographers Photographers from New Jersey