Elegance Bratton, whose documentary “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” had its international premiere this week at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, speaks to Variety about the relevance of house music’s history in Trump’s America, and his feelings as he prepares to shoot crime thriller “By Any Means,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Bratton, who first broke through with documentary “Pier Kids” and drama “The Inspection,” and was selected as one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2023, has a personal connection to house music because of how it empowered him as a gay teenager. When he was growing up, he was bullied because of his name. “There was all this pressure on me to be less effeminate,” he says. Within his family and community, if he were “naturally flamboyant,” “they attempted to bully or beat it out of me,” he says. Then, on television, he saw...