‘A Thousand and One’s Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell

Opening in theaters on March thirty first is the brand new drama ‘A Thousand and One’ from author and director A.V. Rockwell, which gained the jury prize at 2023 Sundance Movie Pageant.

What’s the plot of ‘A Thousand and One?’

‘A Thousand and One’ follows unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor), who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and one another, mom and son got down to reclaim their sense of house, identification, and stability, in a quickly altering New York Metropolis.

Who’s within the forged of ‘A Thousand and One?’

‘A Thousand and One’ stars Teyana Taylor (‘Coming 2 America’) as Inez de la Paz, Aaron Kingsley Adetola as 6 12 months previous Terry, Aven Courtney as 13 12 months previous Terry, Josiah Cross (‘King Richard’) as 17 12 months previous terry, and Will Catlett (‘The Satan You Know’) as Fortunate, Inez’s husband.

Moviefone just lately had the pleasure of talking with Teyana Taylor and author/director A.V. Rockwell about their work on ‘’A Thousand and One,’ why Rockwell wished to inform this explicit story, Taylor’s efficiency, and what the director hopes audiences will take away from seeing the movie.

‘A Thousand and One’s Teyana Taylor and author/director A.V. Rockwell.

You’ll be able to learn the total interview under or click on on the video participant above to observe our interviews with Taylor, Rockwell, Josiah Cross and Will Catlett.

Moviefone: To start with, A.V., are you able to speak concerning the themes you wished to discover about gentrification and the connection between moms and their sons with this film?

A.V. Rockwell: I feel I wished to make use of this window of time, this coming of age period that was my coming of age period in New York. I wished to make use of it as a means into all these completely different subjects. I wished folks to additionally perceive what’s at stake as a result of New York was altering dramatically and we see that over the course of the movie. So this was my farewell to that period, however I wished folks to know what it means for probably the most susceptible group of individuals which are impacted by these adjustments. I feel gentrification and the best way that it impacted characters like Inez and Terry, who’re merchandise of the foster care system and have been so determined to be beloved, so determined to have stability and a way of house. So I feel simply seeing the influence of what it means to combat for that, and the facility of these issues and to see it washed away. Then for a neighborhood like Harlem, meaning one thing not solely to New Yorkers however simply to black identification and heritage particularly, and in addition to American historical past. I feel to lose that neighborhood is, once more, a devastating loss and I wished folks to simply have an understanding of not solely what’s occurred right here, however how all these items work and play into one another.

Teyana Taylor stars as Inez de la Paz in author/director A.V. Rockwell’s ‘A Thousand and One,’ launched by Focus Options. Courtesy of Aaron Ricketts/Focus Options.

MF: Teyana, what was your first response to the screenplay and may you discuss your strategy to enjoying Inez?

Teyana Taylor: Effectively, earlier than I even acquired the position or the script, all I had was the audition sides, slightly synopsis and slightly bit about who Inez was. I actually immediately related to her and simply what she stood for, and what she fought for. I felt like I stood and fought for lots of the identical issues and so I labored to earn that script. After I acquired the total script, me and A.V. did a number of workshopping, a number of layering, and a number of colour coordination of the completely different layers of Inez. So it was actually stunning to see how Inez got here collectively on display.

‘A Thousand and One’ author/director A.V. Rockwell. Picture courtesy of Maya Iman

MF: Lastly, A.V., what do you hope audiences will take away from seeing this film?

A.V. Rockwell: I feel that there is a lot for folks to stroll away from as they depart the theaters after watching this film. It is onerous to actually slim it down to 1 factor, however I feel that is the fantastic thing about it. I feel that in doing my job accurately, I used to be making an attempt to present folks a leaping off level, issues to course of about their expertise, concerning the relationship dynamics they’ve and in addition how we relate to different communities. So actually, I hoped to simply encourage conversations. I feel that if folks can take that away, and have these issues to speak about in relation to all of the completely different themes and occasions that occur to happen within the film, then I really feel prefer it’s been an incredible success.

(L to R) Cinematographer Eric Ok. Yue and author/director A.V. Rockwell on the set of ‘A Thousand and One,’ launched by Focus Options. Courtesy of Aaron Ricketts/Focus Options.

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‘A Thousand and One’ is produced by Sight Unseen Footage, Hillman Grad Productions, Makeready, and Focus Options, and scheduled for launch on March thirty first.