It’s been five years in the making, but the time writer/director A.V. Rockwell has spent preparing her debut feature A Thousand And One has paid off.
At its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, it bagged the Grand Jury Prize, an accolade that often translates into Oscar buzz further down the line; Whiplash, Minari and CODA are just three recent titles to go from festival favourite to Academy Award winner.
It would be a worthy fate for Rockwell’s film, a decade-plus character study of mother Inez (Teyana Taylor), who upon being released from prison, makes the rash decision to kidnap her six-year-old son Terry on the eve of getting a new foster home.
Universal
Rather than becoming something akin to a crime drama, the search winds down almost immediately, and we follow how Inez chooses to raise her son over the next decade; starting in the mid-nineties and ending just over a decade later, with rapid gentrification and subsequent Republican mayors transforming the city as the family’s dynamics shift alongside them.
Inez is an inherently complicated character, but the film succeeds in bringing her to life without passing judgement on her actions. Rockwell has stated that the character was inspired by several real women she knew growing up in New York, stressing her desire to create a “three-dimensional human being”.
She told Zavvi: “There are so many women in my life that I’ve come across that helped to shape what her personality ultimately is in the film. But I also think that even her physicality, from her style to her energy and her demeanor, is inspired by women I saw growing up who were beautiful but had a uniqueness to their personality and how they carried themselves – you can definitely see that at the beginning of the film, when Inez is reaffirming her sense of self.
Universal
“I wanted to pull from the essence of women that I felt were complicated; they were rough and tough, but they could also be sweet, and I think Inez has all of those layers.”
Of course, the challenge in making audiences empathise with Inez isn’t strictly down to characterisation, with Rockwell always aware of the fact that some viewers may find it difficult to extend their sympathies towards a mother who kidnaps her young child.
“I think it was a challenge but in trying to find the right way to tell her story, it became clearer that this is the story of two people and their relationship. I wanted to tell the story of somebody that’s complicated in a way that gives you a sense of their humanity.
Universal
“Instead of just seeing Inez and the way that she’s complicated, you see that her actions are a byproduct of what her life experiences are. When some people see someone like Inez in the real world, they are quick to prejudge them, rather than trying to understand what has led to their circumstances and try to offer them the supportive system they needed in the first place.
“I knew that in writing the character there would be people who didn’t fully agree with her choices. But I do think that, by the end of it, they would still see her for who she is – and if they didn’t, there would be someone next to them in the theater who would and tell them that she can’t just be judged and dismissed. I’ve already spoke to people from a wide array of backgrounds who fully see her, so I know the success is there.”
A Thousand And One is also the first time actress Teyana Taylor has taken on a leading role, but Rockwell had no doubt in her mind that she’d found the right performer to take on such a challenging part.
Universal
“I wanted the perfect balance of someone who wouldn’t feel like an actor and could really embody an underprivileged New York City woman – but I also knew it demanded somebody who could dig their teeth in and deliver a nuanced, layered performance. Teyana gave me all of that; I could tell that she could see this woman in the real world and wouldn’t look down on this character, because she could really identify with her in a variety of ways.
“As for casting Teddy, I always knew it was going to be hard. This story jumps through three distinct periods in New York, and how that shapes his coming-of-age years – I thought it would be nice to have two boys, but I realised I did need three, as his experiences as a pre-teen showed an awkward youthfulness to him, versus the more self-actualised version we see later on.
“Emotionally, it was going to be difficult, and then you must consider that we’re trying to cast this kid in a pandemic, when people were still somewhat leery about rejoining production, let alone letting their kid be in a movie! But I think, between all three actors, I was really able to shape that journey that Terry takes of discovering not just who he is as a man, but who he’s going to be to the woman that raised him.”
Universal
Taylor has previously described the film as being an account of how “New York broke her heart” during her formative years growing up there. But she’s still passionate about the city where she still lives and works – does she see any of that shine through into her film?
“There’s no heartbreak without a love to begin with; to feel my love for New York in this movie, you just have to go through that first. It’s about how I believed in the city as a New Yorker, and believed everyone in the world who had a dream could come here and make it, whether it’s as an artist or an entrepreneur, or just a mom who wants to raise a great child.
“That love is there, but it’s coloured by the disappointment that I felt in the city. New York will always be a piece of me, as the city I love and consider home – so at some point, maybe I’ll come back to it and write those other love notes.”
Universal
Whilst she is circling a few projects for her next feature, Rockwell’s biggest passion for the moment remains trying to get more audiences to experience her first labour of love on the big screen.
She concluded: “I want to make sure that audiences everywhere, can experience this movie and see all the different ways that they can identify, because whilst it was a story that was specific to me in many ways, there’s so much about it that is universal.
“I hope people come out of it differently to how they entered the theater, and that they understand themselves and others in a completely new light.”
A Thousand And One is released in UK cinemas on Friday, 21st April.
