Filmmaker Elegance Bratton to Receive Inaugural Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award

The Coolidge Corner Theatre has announced award-winning and boundary-breaking director, writer and producer Elegance Bratton (Pier Kids, The Inspection) as the inaugural recipient of The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award.

On Friday, January 27 at 7pm, Mr. Bratton will introduce his latest film, The Inspection, and participate in a post-screening Q&A moderated by The Boston Globe columnist Renée Graham. After the Q&A, he will be presented with The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award.

The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award was created to spotlight the next generation of filmmaking talent. "As we look to our future-which we are doing a lot of, with our once-in-a-generation theater expansion project anticipated to open in spring 2023-we want to shine a light on the bold and innovative film artists who represent the future of cinema," remarked Coolidge Corner Theatre Executive Director & CEO Katherine Tallman. "The Inspection definitively establishes Elegance Bratton as one of the most exciting and distinctive voices working in film today. We look forward to celebrating him with our inaugural Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award."

Outreach partners and co-presenters for The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award are Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, Cinefest Latino Boston, Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston), RoxFilm, and Wicked Queer.

Elegance Bratton is an award-winning and boundary-breaking director, writer and producer. He began making films as a US Marine after spending a decade homeless. His work captures stories untold with an intention to show the universal power of our shared humanity. Bratton's films have played in over 200 film festivals worldwide including the New York Film Festival, Toronto, Sundance, Outfest, BFI, Doc NYC, and the BlackStar Film Festival. He was recently named one of Variety's 10 Directors to Watch for 2023.

Bratton made his television debut as the creator and executive producer of Viceland's My House. The series, which chronicled underground competitive ballroom dancing, was nominated for Outstanding Documentary at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards.

In 2021, Bratton's critically-acclaimed feature documentary, Pier Kids, won the Independent Spirit Awards' Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. Pier Kids explores the lives of Black, homeless queer and transgender youth in New York.

The Inspection, his semi-autobiographical narrative fiction debut, world premiered as the opening night film of the Toronto International Film Festival Discovery section and was the closing night film of the New York Film Festival. The critically-acclaimed A24 film centers around a young homeless gay man who joins the Marine Corps to win back his mother's love, but learns how to respect himself at bootcamp. The film has garnered numerous award nominations including from the Golden Globes, Gothams, and Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Bratton is currently in post-production on the upcoming feature documentary, Hellfighters, which highlights the story of African American Jazz pioneer and music mogul James Reese Europe, who was a lieutenant in the 369th Infantry Regiment, known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Bratton also co-runs the production company, Freedom Principle, alongside his producing partner, Chester Algernal Gordon. He was a Sundance 2020 Native Lab mentor and a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab mentor. Bratton holds a BS from Columbia University (2014) and MFA from NYU Tisch Graduate Film (2019). He and his partner live in Baltimore.

The Coolidge Award (established in 2004) has and will continue to honor film artists with decades-long careers; previous honorees have included Meryl Streep, Zhang Yimou, Werner Herzog, Michael Douglas, Thelma Schoonmaker, Jane Fonda, and Julianne Moore. A 2023 Coolidge Award honoree will be announced later in the year.

The Coolidge's screens are accessible by elevators. All are also equipped with a variety of options for patrons that are hard of hearing, deaf, blind, and/or visually impaired. For questions about accessibility or to request any special accommodations, please email info@coolidge.org.

Tickets for this event are $20 general and $17 for Coolidge members. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA.

About the Coolidge Corner Theatre

The nonprofit Coolidge Corner Theatre is a premier American independent cinema renowned for its curated feature film programming and innovative signature educational, cultural, and entertainment programs. A beloved movie house, the Coolidge welcomes over 225,000 patrons per year and has been pleasing audiences with the best in cinematic entertainment since 1933.

In addition to showcasing the best in contemporary independent cinema, the Coolidge has developed a wide range of programing to reach all sectors of the community, including: Big Screen Classics, After Midnite, Senior Matinees, Talk Cinema, Science on Screen®, Cinema Jukebox, PANORAMA, The Sounds of Silents®, Kids' Shows, Rewind!, The Coolidge Award, and adult education film classes. The Coolidge hosts several prominent film festivals and has welcomed film luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Werner Herzog, Jane Fonda, Liv Ullmann, Ethan Hawke, Viggo Mortensen, and more. For more information, visit coolidge.org.

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