By Caroline Pain
Staff Writer
theaspnews@gmail.com
Tanya Hamilton presented her movie “Night Catches Us,” which she both wrote and directed, on Feb. 13 at the Downtown Campus.
“Night Catches Us” was released in 2010 has received many awards since then. It focuses on the life of a former Black Panther who comes back to his hometown of Philadelphia in 1976 after several years away. Immediately, the viewer is immersed in the atmosphere, then things settle slowly and the viewer discovers the characters one by one.
Marcus comes back home, but he is not welcome by the rest of the neighborhood. He has to face the issues he left behind him when he left.
Tanya Hamilton moved to the United States from Jamaica when she was eight. She was inspired by her own past to make the film. When she was a teenager, she discovered that a close friend of her mother took part in the Civil Rights Movement was jailed. Hamilton found some papers and photographs from this time in the basement of their friend’s house and became fascinated with the story. It went to the back of her mind for several years, but when she was looking for a story to tell in her first film, she immediately thought of this one.
“I found it absolutely fascinating,” she said. “I am also quite interested in the Panthers and themes such as youth and revolution.”
Kerry Washington was one of the actors who starred in the film. Photo from theschleicherspin.com
Hamilton chose an usual focus for her film. She did not want to concentrate on the time when the main character was a Black Panther. She told the story from the view of the aftermath, emphasizing the idea that there are many facets involved. This view is also a result of her own past.
“I have always been ‘the other,’ a foreigner, a child. And this is from this perspective that I learned the story,” Hamilton says. “I only knew my mother’s friend as the woman she was after all of these events. That’s why I decided to build the narrative from there. I thought it was more authentic.”
She worked for about 10 years on “Night Catches Us,” raising money, doing research, and writing and rewriting the script.
“I had to do a lot of research for this, and believe me I am not good at it, at all. Good thing I was really interested!” she said.
As for the financial part, Hamilton explains that it was a struggle. People were not interested in her film, and she believes it would have been easier if it was a movie only about the Black Panthers.
“It was a frustrating process, but despite that it was important to keep trying because films can have a tremendous impact,” she said.
It’s different from the process that Hamilton goes through as a paint. She said that when you paint, you do your own thing and then you try to sell it. However, making a movie requires funds in advance. However, she acknowledges that having a small budget forced her to be more creative.
“I realized that I could do more, with less,” she said.
Hamilton is now working on another movie that would be set in Jamaica.
