Considering Night Catches Us is just her first feature film, odds are, you aren’t very familiar with writer-director Tanya Hamilton. Hamilton was always an artist, but made a natural transition from painting to filmmaking turning her ability to create a story on the canvas to creating one on the big screen and after over a decade of work, Hamilton brings us Night Catches Us.

The film stars Anthony Mackie as Marcus, an ex-Black Panther who mysteriously left town, leaving his family and friends behind without any explanation. Now it’s 1979 and Marcus is back. While everyone he’s ever known is eager to turn their backs on him, embarrass him and attempt to run him out of town, his best friend’s widow, Patricia (Kerry Washington), and her daughter, Iris (Jamara Griffin), welcome him into their home and lives with open arms.

Night Catches Us is a monumental accomplishment on a number of levels. Not only is it the result of a lengthy and trying process, especially in terms of financing, but Hamilton also captures the time period in an impressively sincere fashion. In honor of the film’s December 3rd release, Hamilton took the time to explain every step of her journey from changing artistic mediums to recruiting her top-notch leading duo and even a little about her next project. Check out all of that and much more in the video interview below.