A Thousand and One captures a city and family in flux
thefader.comA Thousand And One mixes its personal and political themes in ways that feel deeply intentional. A.V. Rockwell's feature-length directorial debut tells the story of a desperate young mother doing the best for her child in mid-90s Harlem, battling oppressive policing and hungry real estate developers along the way.
Inez (Teyana Taylor, in a revelatory performance) fresh out of jail, essentially kidnaps six-year-old Terry from his foster home and continues to raise him herself.
She's doing the wrong things for the right reasons, and the film gracefully avoids casting aspersions on her actions. In her first major dramatic role, Taylor establishes herself as a skilled dramatic actor as she portrays Inez’s efforts to protect her son as well as keep her secret under wraps.
It is, in many ways, a tale of survival with big city life being portrayed as treacherous a landscape as any jungle or arctic tundra.
Read more on thefader.com