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Outlook: I didn't realise I was homeless

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Elegance Bratton (credit: Gioncarlo Valentine)

22/09/2022 GMT

I didn't realise I was homeless

BBC World Service - Outlook, I didn't realise I was homeless

Filmmaker Elegance Bratton slept on the streets of New York and New Jersey for years

Filmmaker Elegance Bratton slept on the streets of New York and New Jersey for eight years, but found his home in the gay community.

What makes a home?  The eternal question of belonging, explored today through two very different stories.

Elegance Bratton spent eight years living on the streets of New York and New Jersey, but he didn't realise he was homeless. He was part of the local gay community and, despite his situation, felt like he had found his home. Elegance was recruited by the marines where he discovered his talent as a filmmaker. He's written and directed a feature film inspired by his life story called The Inspection which has just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It's dedicated to his mother who passed away in 2020. This interview was first broadcast in August 2018.   

Shyam Shah was born in London to Kenyan/Indian parents. At the age of five, his family moved back to Kenya where initially he found it hard to settle. Their home was always full of music and it was in Congolese music that he found his spiritual home. He is now lead guitarist in the London-based Congolese Cuban Rumba band Grupo Lokito and their debut album is dropping soon.   

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Film-maker Elegance Bratton. Credit: Gioncarlo Valentine)

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