Tanya Hamilton is an American film director and producer. She came to the United States at the age of eight, and settled in Maryland with her mother. She attended attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

The Duke Ellington School of the Arts is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School system, it is named for the American jazz bandleader and composer Edward...

, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

.

Hamilton's first project was a short film entitled The Killers, which was released in 1997. This work won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

 and New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

. Her first feature film was Night Catches Us

Night Catches Us

Night Catches Us is a 2010 drama film directed and written by Tanya Hamilton and stars Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Hector, Wendell Pierce and Novella Nelson.-Plot:...

, a portrayal of former Black Panthers reuniting in 1976 Philadelphia. In 2011, Hamilton received a Black Reel Award nomination for best director for this film. Hamilton is currently a Fellow at the Sundance Screenwriter and Filmmaker Lab.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1995	The Killers	Director/Writer	Short film
2011	Night Catches Us Night Catches Us Night Catches Us is a 2010 drama film directed and written by Tanya Hamilton and stars Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Hector, Wendell Pierce and Novella Nelson.-Plot:...	Director/Writer	Debut feature film

External links