Telling a Multi-Layered Urban Drama: A.V. Rockwell Discusses Her First Feature ‘A Thousand and One’

New York City is a cultural and financial metronome for the rest of the country and the rest of the world. In movies, it’s often a secondary character, providing exterior obstacles for characters as well as reflecting their inner challenges. Writer/director A.V. Rockwell’s upcoming A Thousand and One paints a landscape of a shifting 90s New York, one whose ethnic face becomes more homogeneous in certain areas and in certain respects because of changing economics and leadership. It also takes an unflinching look at a very flawed foster care system.

A.V. is a Queens native and attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. A Thousand and One is a love letter to the gritty city’s vibrant swan song and it’s clear the one-of-a-kind city is in her DNA. 

This Focus Features release hits theaters on March 31, 2023. Starring an electrifying Teyana Taylor, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, and William Catlett, the film is a lean hour and fifty-six minutes of pure heart and soul cinema.

A.V. recently spoke with Script Magazine about making this project, which is near and dear to her heart.

What was the most important thing you learned about filmmaking from NYU?

I did learn a lot about how to make movies, but I think I gained the most from community and the peer group I was with. Something else I learned was how important representation is. I felt like we were so underrepresented, not only in the student body but in the curriculum that was taught. My peer group and I did push for a lot of the changes that did take shape. Also, I realized that people came to the program from all over the world. Their views of us were largely shaped by what America pumps out into the world. I realized how urgently change needs to happen. Movies shape society and the more that we're underrepresented, the more movies will play into the things that separate us.

Is it getting easier for Black filmmakers to get their projects produced?

I think the industry is a lot more open to that now. They're seeing how much they have to gain, how exciting it is to have new points of view and new types of stories. But, also, this is a commercial endeavor, and the market is benefitting tremendously by how much audiences are responding in huge numbers to what is being pushed out. I think to only represent the human condition through one lens has limited us. As audiences, we've been starving for more variety. We all benefit from the landscape opening up for other stories and storytellers.

This was your first feature. What were the challenges of doing a feature compared to a short?

It was challenging on several levels. It's a marathon. It requires a certain level of endurance because everything is multiplied regarding what goes into telling a story. The demands of production are very taxing on you. As a filmmaker, you need to make sure you’re not only taking the best care of the project but also yourself so that you're showing up as the best version of yourself. COVID also made it super challenging to make this picture. I'm proud that I was able to use all of the things I learned from making shorts to continue to grow here and confront all of these challenges head-on.

How did you come up with this story and how did you get it made?

I always wanted to tell a tale about coming of age in NYC on two levels. I wanted to tell one that said farewell to the way New York was during the era that I grew up in it. And also, to tell the story of what it meant to come of age as an inner-city Black woman at the time and feel like our narrative was being represented. We haven't seen enough examples of that rendered with depth, empathy, and nuance. The more digging that I did and seeing how that was impacting the Black communities…it felt like we were being pushed out altogether and our contributions being erased. That gave me a sense of urgency about wanting to tell the story now.

The way I got it made was a little bit different from the way I anticipated. I had just completed my short Feathers and I assumed that I would go to festivals and that would open all the doors for me, allowing me to make my first film. I actually found a team to make my movie before my short hit the festival circuit. I had just done a private screening and ended up meeting Hillman Grad and other Sight Unseen executives, the people who would be my team on this. They took this journey with me from the beginning, before I even had a crystal-clear idea of where I was going with the plot, which was really beautiful.

You’re a New York native. Did you discover anything new about the city while you were directing?

I think in the whole process of making this movie I learned a lot. It pushed me to go beyond what my lived experience in New York was and get to know it in a whole new way. The experience of just living here and loving the city took me to deep levels of research. That gave me deep insights into the personality of New York. Knowing the spirit of New York and how it’s transformed itself over time, it gave me perspective about what this era really was in the greater context of this city.

New York is still evolving. It remains to be seen if it’s for the better of the city.

How did you go about crafting Inez? She’s not a total villain, she’s very nuanced.

I wanted to write a composite of so many women like her who are in my life who I wanted to celebrate and have them feel seen. They are often overlooked, not only in our society but our community, and I wanted to highlight that. I also wanted to write a character who was complicated and interesting. She’s familiar and unfamiliar to me. She is determined no matter what to be in charge of her own destiny, for better or worse.

How did Teyana Taylor get cast?

I thought it was too cheesy to offer her a role just because she’s from Harlem and I didn’t have a reference point for her other work. I felt like the person who played the role not only needed the pedigree to play this complex character but also she had to have the truthfulness that I was looking for. Not every Black woman’s experience is the same. I needed to know the person was able to channel Inez and have empathy for her. That last ingredient was I felt like I needed someone who was going to be one-of-one for a movie that’s about a city and neighborhood that’s one-of-one. I told Teyana to not only bring parts of herself that are unique, but to bring parts of herself that she’s been taught to reject.

What are the themes of the movie?

One is about unrequited love. There’s the mother-and-son narrative as well as one about Black womanhood and the degrees of our experiences. There’s the misogyny as well as the colorism, which is something not every group of women experiences. The way the city prioritizes commerce over the needs of communities. Gentrification and the policies that set the stage for it.

How would Inez fare in 2023 New York?

I have no doubt she’d be able to make something out of nothing. She’s not going to let anything bring her down. I thought this was an important message to convey about Black people as a whole.

Would you consider directing something you haven’t written?

Yes, when the right project comes along. I have other original stories that I’d like to tell but I don’t rule it out.

What stories do you gravitate towards?

Those that have something profound to say about the human condition. 

A Thousand and One will be released in theaters on March 31, 2023.