From the first moments of A.V. Rockwell’s debut feature, A Thousand and One, the audience is in the company of Teyana Taylor’s vivid portrayal of Inez, a woman in 1994 Harlem. She’s just out of Rikers and on a mission to rescue her son, Terry, out of the foster care system. As Terry grows older, the viewer follows their loving, messy relationship in a changing city. After winning the 2023 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, A Thousand and One has continued to rack up accolades for Taylor and Rockwell, who now finds herself nominated for first-time feature film at the DGA Awards. She recently talked to THR about the inception of her indelible central character and her portrait of New York.
What is the origin of Inez?
It was really about creating a character that I wanted to see, especially in the way that she was representing moms of color.
What is the origin of Inez?
It was really about creating a character that I wanted to see, especially in the way that she was representing moms of color.
- 2/11/2024
- by Esther Zuckerman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This interview contains spoilers about the end of “A Thousand And One.”
“It was a beautiful moment,” reflects Lena Waithe on the 33rd annual Gotham Awards, where the producer of the film “A Thousand And One” celebrated three nominations and a victory for A.V. Rockwell for Breakthrough Director. As she explains, “We’ve been rocking with A.V. for a while… A.V. has passion and something to say.” Rishi Rajani, the CEO of Waithe’s production company Hillman Grad, had pitched her on the idea that she “should be working with directors like A.V.,” and, indeed, she signed on to producer the writer-director’s first feature film before she had even seen a script. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“A Thousand And One” follows the mother-son relationship of Inez (Teyana Taylor) and Terry as they lean on each other after Inez is released from Rikers Island and...
“It was a beautiful moment,” reflects Lena Waithe on the 33rd annual Gotham Awards, where the producer of the film “A Thousand And One” celebrated three nominations and a victory for A.V. Rockwell for Breakthrough Director. As she explains, “We’ve been rocking with A.V. for a while… A.V. has passion and something to say.” Rishi Rajani, the CEO of Waithe’s production company Hillman Grad, had pitched her on the idea that she “should be working with directors like A.V.,” and, indeed, she signed on to producer the writer-director’s first feature film before she had even seen a script. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“A Thousand And One” follows the mother-son relationship of Inez (Teyana Taylor) and Terry as they lean on each other after Inez is released from Rikers Island and...
- 12/4/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
A.V. Rockwell never saw herself as a writer until her hit feature debut “A Thousand and One.”
The film, which counts Lena Waithe as a producer, centers on Inez and Terry, a Black mother and son who are growing together as they navigate gentrification, police brutality and financial distress in a changing New York City.
Almost a year after its Sundance debut, the Gotham Award-nominated film that Rockwell wrote and directed continues to receive acclaim for its riveting story and raw characters.
Why did you choose this story for your feature directorial debut?
I wanted to tell a story that spoke to my upbringing in New York City. Around the time I started writing the movie, gentrification was a big thing that was happening. I think the movie explores the fact that [Black people] were under attack the entire time, feeling targeted in the way that our community was by gentrification. I...
The film, which counts Lena Waithe as a producer, centers on Inez and Terry, a Black mother and son who are growing together as they navigate gentrification, police brutality and financial distress in a changing New York City.
Almost a year after its Sundance debut, the Gotham Award-nominated film that Rockwell wrote and directed continues to receive acclaim for its riveting story and raw characters.
Why did you choose this story for your feature directorial debut?
I wanted to tell a story that spoke to my upbringing in New York City. Around the time I started writing the movie, gentrification was a big thing that was happening. I think the movie explores the fact that [Black people] were under attack the entire time, feeling targeted in the way that our community was by gentrification. I...
- 11/20/2023
- by Raquel 'Rocky' Harris
- The Wrap
Do you see her? The Black mother wiping her son’s inner eye on a Harlem corner? It’s the late ’90s and she’s piecing her life back together after a prison stint. What about the mother positioning an infant for a photo? She works at a studio, tucked in a Bay Area mall, trying to make ends meet before the birth of her third child. Or the Black mother lounging in her living room during a party? Guests, drunk on liquor and a good time, buzz around her as a young girl plays at her feet.
These women are the central figures of three revelatory dramas released this year. In A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama and Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, which opens in limited release Nov. 3, Black mothers assume more complex roles than the ones Hollywood usually affords them.
These women are the central figures of three revelatory dramas released this year. In A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama and Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, which opens in limited release Nov. 3, Black mothers assume more complex roles than the ones Hollywood usually affords them.
- 11/1/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There is no shortage this September of new (and old) things to watch on Prime Video! The Amazon streamer is adding over 300 new TV series and films to its library this month, from highly anticipated season premieres to classic movies.
Included in the list this month are many Amazon Originals, including the highly anticipated “Cassandro,” starring Gael García Bernal, and the Season 2 premiere of the high fantasy series “The Wheel of Time,” starring Rosamund Pike.
But if you’re looking to revisit old favorites, Prime Video will be adding hundreds of movies to its library, including the “Bourne” franchise, “The Birdcage,” and many, many others.
Not sure where to start? Check out The Streamable’s picks below for what’s coming to platform this month!
30-Day Free Trial $8.99 / month amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Prime Video in September 2023? “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 | Friday, Sept.
Included in the list this month are many Amazon Originals, including the highly anticipated “Cassandro,” starring Gael García Bernal, and the Season 2 premiere of the high fantasy series “The Wheel of Time,” starring Rosamund Pike.
But if you’re looking to revisit old favorites, Prime Video will be adding hundreds of movies to its library, including the “Bourne” franchise, “The Birdcage,” and many, many others.
Not sure where to start? Check out The Streamable’s picks below for what’s coming to platform this month!
30-Day Free Trial $8.99 / month amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Prime Video in September 2023? “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 | Friday, Sept.
- 8/31/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
A Thousand and One is one of the most high-profile indie movies of the year after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the most recent Sundance Film Festival. The story is universal and timeless. It’s also rooted in the specific milieu of Harlem, New York in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Recreating this location was vital to writer and director A.V. Rockwell during the planning and production of A Thousand and One. She went to great lengths to ensure the movie’s setting was as realistic as the characters.
‘A Thousand And One’ is a passion project for Rockwell
A Thousand and One about a single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor in her best performance yet). Inez attempts to create a safe and fulfilling life for her child Terry.
In a profile on Sundance’s official website, Rockwell said that she began working on the script for A Thousand and One...
Recreating this location was vital to writer and director A.V. Rockwell during the planning and production of A Thousand and One. She went to great lengths to ensure the movie’s setting was as realistic as the characters.
‘A Thousand And One’ is a passion project for Rockwell
A Thousand and One about a single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor in her best performance yet). Inez attempts to create a safe and fulfilling life for her child Terry.
In a profile on Sundance’s official website, Rockwell said that she began working on the script for A Thousand and One...
- 4/16/2023
- by Sam Hines
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
There are eight million stories in the naked city — the saga of Inez de la Paz is just one of them.
A Thousand and One wants you to pay attention to this particular tale, however, and to give her experience its due. This woman could be anybody. But as A.V. Rockwell’s movie insistently reminds you, she is somebody. Attention deserves to be paid. It’s 1994, and Inez (Teyana Taylor) has just finished a bid at Rikers Island. She’s returned to Brooklyn, with the idea of either getting her...
A Thousand and One wants you to pay attention to this particular tale, however, and to give her experience its due. This woman could be anybody. But as A.V. Rockwell’s movie insistently reminds you, she is somebody. Attention deserves to be paid. It’s 1994, and Inez (Teyana Taylor) has just finished a bid at Rikers Island. She’s returned to Brooklyn, with the idea of either getting her...
- 3/29/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
"Something gonna happen - I can feel it." Focus Features is releasing the acclaimed, award-winning film A Thousand and One in select US theaters this week - starting on March 31st (and in the UK on April 21st). The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the renowned top prize at the fest. After unapologetic and fiercely loyal Inez takes her son Terry from the foster care system, mother & son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, stability, in a rapidly changing New York City. Spanning decades of time in the big city. Newcomer Teyana Taylor stars as Inez, with Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, William Catlett, Terri Abney, Delissa Reynolds, Amelia Workman, and Adriane Lenox. This is one of the finest directorial debuts all year so far, and everyone who has seen it has been raving about it since January.
- 3/29/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Teyana Taylor celebrated the New York premiere of her new film, "A Thousand and One," with two very special guests on Monday night: her daughters, Junie, 7, and Rue Shumpert, 2, whom she shares with husband Iman Shumpert. Dressed in matching denim outfits, the trio turned the movie screening into a fun girls' night out as they posed for pictures on the red carpet. Also in attendance were Taylor's costars Josiah Cross, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, William Catlett, and Aven Courtney.
"A Thousand and One" centers on Inez (played by Taylor), a young mother who reconnects with her son, Terry, after she is released from prison in 1994. It follows their journey as they struggle to survive in an increasingly gentrified and evolving New York City. While it's not exactly based on a true story, it draws inspiration from director A.V. Rockwell's life and her relationship with the city.
Speaking to Access Atlanta,...
"A Thousand and One" centers on Inez (played by Taylor), a young mother who reconnects with her son, Terry, after she is released from prison in 1994. It follows their journey as they struggle to survive in an increasingly gentrified and evolving New York City. While it's not exactly based on a true story, it draws inspiration from director A.V. Rockwell's life and her relationship with the city.
Speaking to Access Atlanta,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Monica Sisavat
- Popsugar.com
Check out the new poster (below) for the new film from writer/director A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand an One starring Teyana Taylor, as well as the trailer (above).
A Thousand And One follows unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor), who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at The Sundance Film Festival
About The Film
Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, Aaron Kingsley Adetola Director: A.V. Rockwell Screenplay: A.V. Rockwell Producers: Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, Brad Weston
A Thousand And One is only in theaters Friday, March 31, 2023!
For More Information, Please Visit:
Official Site / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / #AThousandAndOne
The post “A Thousand and One...
A Thousand And One follows unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor), who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at The Sundance Film Festival
About The Film
Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, Aaron Kingsley Adetola Director: A.V. Rockwell Screenplay: A.V. Rockwell Producers: Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, Brad Weston
A Thousand And One is only in theaters Friday, March 31, 2023!
For More Information, Please Visit:
Official Site / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / #AThousandAndOne
The post “A Thousand and One...
- 3/27/2023
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
After every Sundance Film Festival, movie lovers everywhere are treated to a torrent of buzz about the premieres and come away with one overriding question — "when can I watch these movies?" Well, we now have at least one answer.
"A Thousand And One" will get a wide release in U.S. theaters on March 31, 2023, distributed by Focus Features. Directed by A.V. Rockwell, the film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival following its January 22 festival debut there.
The film focuses on a black single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor), living in 1993 New York City. Barely making ends meet as a hairdresser after a stint in Rikers Island, her son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), is in foster care. When she asks Terry if he'd be happier with her and he answers yes, she kidnaps her own son, taking him back to Harlem. Since they're now fugitives, Terry gets the new name "Darryl,...
"A Thousand And One" will get a wide release in U.S. theaters on March 31, 2023, distributed by Focus Features. Directed by A.V. Rockwell, the film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival following its January 22 festival debut there.
The film focuses on a black single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor), living in 1993 New York City. Barely making ends meet as a hairdresser after a stint in Rikers Island, her son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), is in foster care. When she asks Terry if he'd be happier with her and he answers yes, she kidnaps her own son, taking him back to Harlem. Since they're now fugitives, Terry gets the new name "Darryl,...
- 2/26/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
A Thousand and One Trailer — A.V. Rockwell‘s A Thousand and One (2023) movie trailer has been released by Focus Features. The A Thousand and One trailer stars Teyana Taylor, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, William Catlett, Terri Abney, Delissa Reynolds, Amelia Workman, and Adriane Lenox. Crew A.V. Rockwell wrote the screenplay [...]
Continue reading: A Thousand And One (2023) Movie Trailer: Teyana Taylor kidnaps Her Son from Foster Care in A.V. Rockwell’s Film...
Continue reading: A Thousand And One (2023) Movie Trailer: Teyana Taylor kidnaps Her Son from Foster Care in A.V. Rockwell’s Film...
- 2/25/2023
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) revealed the group of Hollywood leaders that will present at the upcoming awards ceremony.
PGA announced a star-studded slate of presenters, including Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”); Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”); Austin Butler (“Elvis”); Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”); Paul Dano and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”); Jay Ellis and Monica Barbaro (“Top Gun”); Hong Chau and Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”); Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom, Jr. (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”); Cate Blanchett (“Tár”); Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”); as well as Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Billy Eichner, Bob Odenkirk, Dave Burd, Diego Luna, Eugenio Derbez, Hannah Einbinder, Mo Amer, Nicole Byer, Robert Rodriguez, Ron Howard, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sandra Oh, Sherry Lansing and many more.
The ceremony will also honor Tom Cruise with the David O. Selznick Award, Mindy Kaling with the Norman Lear Award,...
PGA announced a star-studded slate of presenters, including Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”); Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”); Austin Butler (“Elvis”); Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”); Paul Dano and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”); Jay Ellis and Monica Barbaro (“Top Gun”); Hong Chau and Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”); Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom, Jr. (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”); Cate Blanchett (“Tár”); Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”); as well as Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Billy Eichner, Bob Odenkirk, Dave Burd, Diego Luna, Eugenio Derbez, Hannah Einbinder, Mo Amer, Nicole Byer, Robert Rodriguez, Ron Howard, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sandra Oh, Sherry Lansing and many more.
The ceremony will also honor Tom Cruise with the David O. Selznick Award, Mindy Kaling with the Norman Lear Award,...
- 2/24/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, Julia MacCary, Katie Reul and Charna Flam
- Variety Film + TV
In a festival of many breakthroughs, one of the major ones of Sundance Film Festival 2023 was A.V. Rockwell and her directorial debut, the Grand Jury Prize winner A Thousand and One. Starring Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, and Aaron Kingsley Adetola the film follows the unapologetic and free-spirited Inez, who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City. Set for a wide release from Focus Features at the end of next month, the first trailer has now landed.
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “In the beginning of A Thousand and One, the New York City streets are alive, detailed and humming with swagger. It’s 1993 and Inez struts through Brooklyn after a five-year stint at Rikers Island,...
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “In the beginning of A Thousand and One, the New York City streets are alive, detailed and humming with swagger. It’s 1993 and Inez struts through Brooklyn after a five-year stint at Rikers Island,...
- 2/23/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
"You're a blessing. For your mom especially." Focus Features has revealed a trailer for an indie drama titled A Thousand and One, an award-winning drama about a family in Harlem growing up and struggling to get by. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, playing to rave reviews and immense acclaim. I was at the world premiere at Sundance and it definitely deserves all the buzz (it's included in my Best of the Fest recap). After unapologetic and fiercely loyal Inez takes her son Terry from the foster care system, mother & son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, stability, in a rapidly changing New York City. Newcomer Teyana Taylor stars as Inez, along with Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, William Catlett, Terri Abney, Delissa Reynolds, Amelia Workman, and Adriane Lenox. This really is a remarkable directorial debut,...
- 2/23/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Jeremy O. Harris, celebrated screenwriter and playwright, wept when he, as a member of the Sundance 2023 Dramatic jury, gave the festival’s grand jury prize onstage to “A Thousand and One” last month. A.V. Rockwell’s tough and beautiful Harlem-set drama charts the coming-of-age of a boy under the care of the mother who kidnapped him from foster care, played by Teyana Taylor. The R&b super-artist and actress gives a commanding, breakaway performance in a movie whose awards-earning run shouldn’t expect to end with Sundance. Watch the official trailer for the film below.
“There’s more to life than fucked-up beginnings,” Inez (Taylor), a woman living life in New York on her own terms, tells her young son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) as the movie begins. She has taken him out of the foster care system, which has kept them separated after her stint in Rikers Island beginning...
“There’s more to life than fucked-up beginnings,” Inez (Taylor), a woman living life in New York on her own terms, tells her young son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) as the movie begins. She has taken him out of the foster care system, which has kept them separated after her stint in Rikers Island beginning...
- 2/23/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Exclusive: UTA has signed actor Josiah Cross, a breakout of the Focus Features drama A Thousand and One, which recently world premiered to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. The leading global talent, entertainment and sports company will represent Cross in all areas, helping him to secure new opportunities across film, television, theater and more.
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Marking the feature debut of writer-director A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One tells the story of the unapologetic and free-spirited Ines (Teyana Taylor), who convinced that it is one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, kidnaps six-year-old Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their home,...
Related Story ‘Workaholics’ Alum Blake Anderson Signs With CAA Related Story NY1 'On Stage' Host Frank Dilella Signs With UTA Related Story UTA: Details Emerge About Agents Impacted By Layoffs
Marking the feature debut of writer-director A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One tells the story of the unapologetic and free-spirited Ines (Teyana Taylor), who convinced that it is one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, kidnaps six-year-old Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their home,...
- 2/15/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival once again returned to Park City, Utah in-person, but it also had an online program that hosted the majority of its film slate. However, some titles, such as Celine Song’s Past Lives and John Carney’s Flora and Son, only played for in-person attendants. Showbiz Cheat Sheet only covered Sundance remotely for 2023, but here are the 10 films we saw that stood above the rest.
L-r: ‘Passages,’ ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Shayda,’ and ‘A Thousand and One’ | Mubi, Searchlight Pictures, Courtesy of Sundance Institute, Courtesy of Sundance Institute 10. ‘Fairyland’ L-r: Cody Fern as Eddie Body, Scoot McNairy as Steve Abbott, and Nessa Dougherty as Younger Alysia Abbott | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Fairyland marks the directorial feature debut for Andrew Durham, which follows a young girl who moves to 1970s San Francisco with her gay dad after her mom’s death. It’s based on a marvelous novel of the same name.
L-r: ‘Passages,’ ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Shayda,’ and ‘A Thousand and One’ | Mubi, Searchlight Pictures, Courtesy of Sundance Institute, Courtesy of Sundance Institute 10. ‘Fairyland’ L-r: Cody Fern as Eddie Body, Scoot McNairy as Steve Abbott, and Nessa Dougherty as Younger Alysia Abbott | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Fairyland marks the directorial feature debut for Andrew Durham, which follows a young girl who moves to 1970s San Francisco with her gay dad after her mom’s death. It’s based on a marvelous novel of the same name.
- 1/31/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
‘A Thousand and One’ Movie Review [Sundance 2023]: Teyana Taylor Is Transcendent in Mother-Son Drama
The Sundance Film Festival 2023 program includes several films highlighting the parent-child relationship under difficult circumstances. A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One dives into the world of a mother and her son rekindling a relationship after the system failed them both. It’s a compelling story, but the performances are a real knock-out.
‘A Thousand and One’ follows a mother seeking a relationship with her son L-r: Teyana Taylor as Inez and Aaron Kingsley Adetola as Terry | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Inez (music artist-turned-actor Teyana Taylor) moves from one New York City shelter to the next in the mid-1990s, refusing to live her life on anybody else’s terms. She commits to raising her 6-year-old son, Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), who’s in the foster care system.
After some thought, Inez goes through with kidnapping her son so that way they can live the life that she always wanted to have with him.
‘A Thousand and One’ follows a mother seeking a relationship with her son L-r: Teyana Taylor as Inez and Aaron Kingsley Adetola as Terry | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Inez (music artist-turned-actor Teyana Taylor) moves from one New York City shelter to the next in the mid-1990s, refusing to live her life on anybody else’s terms. She commits to raising her 6-year-old son, Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), who’s in the foster care system.
After some thought, Inez goes through with kidnapping her son so that way they can live the life that she always wanted to have with him.
- 1/30/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
In the beginning of A Thousand and One, the New York City streets are alive, detailed and humming with swagger. It’s 1993 and Inez struts through Brooklyn after a five-year stint at Rikers Island, readjusting to the rhythms of freedom. The sun bakes the brownstones, hip-hop echoes around storefronts, and kids suck on ice pops––the kind of weather and atmosphere Samuel L. Jackson might be yammering about from his bedroom window. But there’s no time to waste. Inez is looking for Terry, the seven-year-old she left behind and hopes to reclaim.
To fulfill that desire, Inez makes a dangerous choice: she steals Terry from his foster family and shuttles him to Harlem, where she’ll knock on doors, scrape jobs together, and survive as a mother with him over the next decade. Anchored by a virtuoso performance from Teyana Taylor, director A.V. Rockwell’s ambitious, detailed, slightly underbaked...
To fulfill that desire, Inez makes a dangerous choice: she steals Terry from his foster family and shuttles him to Harlem, where she’ll knock on doors, scrape jobs together, and survive as a mother with him over the next decade. Anchored by a virtuoso performance from Teyana Taylor, director A.V. Rockwell’s ambitious, detailed, slightly underbaked...
- 1/29/2023
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
A Thousand and One Review — A Thousand and One (2023) Film Review from the 46th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie written and directed by A.V. Rockwell and starring Teyana Taylor, William Catlett, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Josiah Cross, Terri Abney, Artrece Johnson, Mark Gessner, Adriane Lenox, Will Fitz, Don Dipetta, Lia Lando, Ava [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: A Thousand And One: A.V. Rockwell’s Emotional and Authentic Film Will Pack a Wallop With Viewers [Sundance 2023]...
Continue reading: Film Review: A Thousand And One: A.V. Rockwell’s Emotional and Authentic Film Will Pack a Wallop With Viewers [Sundance 2023]...
- 1/28/2023
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
While our Sundance Film Festival 2023 coverage continues to roll in, the respective juries at Park City have doled out their winners, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to A Thousand and One (U.S. Dramatic), Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (U.S. Documentary), Scrapper (World Cinema Dramatic), and The Eternal Memory (World Cinema Documentary), and the Next Innovator Award presented by Adobe was awarded to Kokomo City.
Check out the full list of winners below, with our coverage where available.
Grand Jury Prizes
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One / U.S.A. — Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City.
Check out the full list of winners below, with our coverage where available.
Grand Jury Prizes
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One / U.S.A. — Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City.
- 1/28/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Teyana Taylor and Aaron Kingsley in ‘A Thousand and One’ (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute / Photo by Focus Features)
The Sundance Film Festival named A Thousand and One from writer/director A.V. Rockwell the winner of the prestigious U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s The Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2023 festival which hosted in-person screenings as well as access online.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections...
The Sundance Film Festival named A Thousand and One from writer/director A.V. Rockwell the winner of the prestigious U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s The Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2023 festival which hosted in-person screenings as well as access online.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections...
- 1/27/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Back in Park City, Utah, for the first time since 2020, the Sundance Film Festival concluded with an in-person awards show. The U.S. dramatic grand jury prize went to the Focus Features release “A Thousand and One,” from debut writer-director A.V. Rockwell, one of eight women in this year’s female-led competition.
Jeremy O. Harris, a member of the three-person U.S. dramatic jury at Sundance, choked back tears as he presented the award to Rockwell, admitting that he left the director’s premiere screening and cried on the street, as the film unearthed “all the feelings I’ve learned to mask in public spaces.”
Rockwell’s film is set in an unforgiving New York City in the late ’90s, where a single mother moving from shelter to shelter kidnaps her 6-year-old son from foster care. As they improbably forge a life and bond, their darkest secret threatens to disrupt what they’ve built.
Jeremy O. Harris, a member of the three-person U.S. dramatic jury at Sundance, choked back tears as he presented the award to Rockwell, admitting that he left the director’s premiere screening and cried on the street, as the film unearthed “all the feelings I’ve learned to mask in public spaces.”
Rockwell’s film is set in an unforgiving New York City in the late ’90s, where a single mother moving from shelter to shelter kidnaps her 6-year-old son from foster care. As they improbably forge a life and bond, their darkest secret threatens to disrupt what they’ve built.
- 1/27/2023
- by Matt Donnelly and Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
There are two bruising lines that bookend first-time feature director A.V. Rockwell’s “A Thousand and One,” .
“There’s more to life than fucked-up beginnings,” Inez, a woman living life in New York on her own terms and brilliantly played by R&b super-artist/actress Teyana Taylor, tells her young son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola). She has kidnapped him out of the foster care system, which has kept them separated after her stint in Rikers Island beginning in 1993, and now hopes to give him a better life. But at the end of the movie, after a decades-spanning, bittersweet bond forms and fizzles between them and shattering revelations are had, she tells the older Terry (Josiah Cross), “I fucked up. Life goes on. So what?”
Rockwell’s direction is sophisticated and visually imaginative even as the movie could benefit from a tighter edit around its New York cast of characters and...
“There’s more to life than fucked-up beginnings,” Inez, a woman living life in New York on her own terms and brilliantly played by R&b super-artist/actress Teyana Taylor, tells her young son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola). She has kidnapped him out of the foster care system, which has kept them separated after her stint in Rikers Island beginning in 1993, and now hopes to give him a better life. But at the end of the movie, after a decades-spanning, bittersweet bond forms and fizzles between them and shattering revelations are had, she tells the older Terry (Josiah Cross), “I fucked up. Life goes on. So what?”
Rockwell’s direction is sophisticated and visually imaginative even as the movie could benefit from a tighter edit around its New York cast of characters and...
- 1/26/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
In writer/director A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut, “A Thousand and One,” Inez (a deeply felt Teyana Talyor) has returned to Harlem after spending a year in Rikers Prison. The year is 1994, and Harlem is still bustling with its own unique flavor and culture, awash in hip-hop music, blue jeans, gold chains, and oversized coats. Inez, however, doesn’t have a place to stay. And more importantly, she doesn’t have her six-year-old son, Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola).
Continue reading ‘A Thousand And One’ Review: Black Motherhood And Harlem Take Centerstage In A.V. Rockwell’s Handsome Debut [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘A Thousand And One’ Review: Black Motherhood And Harlem Take Centerstage In A.V. Rockwell’s Handsome Debut [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/25/2023
- by Robert Daniels
- The Playlist
One of the many things that sets “A Thousand and One” apart from other, similarly tough-minded stories of urban struggle, poverty and marginalization can be felt practically from the start, as director A.V. Rockwell introduces Inez (R’n’B performer and choreographer Teyana Taylor) walking the pavement along a painted brick wall in early-’90s Harlem. The way composer Gary Gunn’s symphonic music swells and swirls on the soundtrack, and the way the camera gazes up at her from below as it tracks her purposeful stride, give this ordinary woman, whom we already know has only recently been released from Rikers Island, a heroic kind of dignity.
In her Sundance-launched feature debut, Rockwell uses the full range of cinematic expressivity to turn a small, often tragic story of raw deals and rash decisions into an admiring portrait of survivorship, determination and resourcefulness. Inez might be part of a stratum...
In her Sundance-launched feature debut, Rockwell uses the full range of cinematic expressivity to turn a small, often tragic story of raw deals and rash decisions into an admiring portrait of survivorship, determination and resourcefulness. Inez might be part of a stratum...
- 1/23/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The struggles of a young woman of color to rebuild her life after a prison stint are conveyed with deep feeling in A Thousand and One, the affecting first feature from A.V. Rockwell, who sharpened her skills on acclaimed short films and commercials. Led by a performance from Teyana Taylor of youthful swagger that evolves through a series of challenges into hard-won self-possession, the Focus Features release is a tender, often painful portrait of the fractious but loving bond between a mother and son, both spat out of the foster care system. It’s also a rich evocation of New York City in the throes of accelerated gentrification and discriminatory policing.
The gritty textures, sizzling colors and vibrant street life of Harlem, in particular, make that historic neighborhood as much a protagonist as Taylor’s Inez De La Paz, a hair stylist first encountered in 1993 while she’s serving time at Rikers.
The gritty textures, sizzling colors and vibrant street life of Harlem, in particular, make that historic neighborhood as much a protagonist as Taylor’s Inez De La Paz, a hair stylist first encountered in 1993 while she’s serving time at Rikers.
- 1/23/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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