You may recognize Bradley Grant Smith as an actor from recent indie gems such as The Last Shift (2020) and Saint Frances (2019); you might know him as musician “Sad Brad Smith,” whose song “Help Yourself” was featured in Up in the Air (2009). Now, you’ll recognize him as writer/producer/director/composer of his first feature Our Father, which premiered at SXSW this past week.

Our Father follows a mismatched pair of sisters: Beta (Broadway’s To Kill a Mockingbird’s Baize Buzan) and Zelda (breakout Allison Torem). After their father’s suicide, the sisters rekindle their relationship and seek out their “religious nut” Uncle Jerry (Catch 22’s Austin Pendleton)—whom the rest of the family believes to be dead. Smith had both Buzan and Torem in mind for his lead roles from the get-go, and he channels their voices perfectly.

Uniquely offbeat and superbly written, this film is full of wryly dark humor and poignant family drama. Laughs and emotions in unexpected packages—perhaps because they’re drawn from Smith’s own life. Shot in his home city of Chicago, scored with his own melancholic compositions, Our Father includes a cavalcade of distinctly hilarious character actors … all handpicked from Smith’s group of friends.

In our interview below, we talk about the movie’s homegrown approach, the challenges faced in production, how Smith achieved his tonal balance and the benefits of writing for your friends.