‘A Thousand and One’ Filmmaker A.V. Rockwell: I Wanted to Write People That Felt Very Layered, Complex, and Nuanced

Watching A Thousand and One for the first time was a mesmerizing experience. And after speaking with A.V. Rockwell, my appreciation for her stunning directorial debut has only grown. Her characters are so well-defined that they jump off the page and feel instantly recognizable. Rockwell’s direction is deft and intimate, earning well-deserved recognition from the DGA. She has guided Teyana Taylor to a revelatory dramatic performance as a young mother trying to raise her son while fighting against both internal and external pressures.

To say much more feels like a disservice to Rockwell’s wise, thoughtful, and empathetic discussion of her film. I should mention that Rockwell has begun writting a second feature, she won’t say much other than she’s excited about the idea. As are we all. A Thousand and One is one of the very best films of the year. Of the decade. It’s streaming now on Amazon— seek it out immediately.

***Author’s Note: The very end of this interview contains spoilers for A Thousand and One.

Awards Daily: First of all, I feel like I cannot say enough about what A Thousand and One means to me and the impact that it has had on me. I’m stunned by it and feel so grateful for the opportunity to talk to you.

A.V. Rockwell: Oh, man, thank you. I’m so happy to hear that it resonated with you in that way. 

AD: A big part of the film is the internal pressure on this mother and the external pressure of gentrification in New York City.

You said you were inspired to start writing A Thousand and One when you realized you could no longer survive in the city that raised you. 

AVR: I remember when I was living in Brooklyn, looking at the environment around me, and just feeling like at a certain point, almost overnight, everything was changing so dramatically. I realized that no matter where I was, particularly when it came to the predominantly Black communities in New York, they were all being changed in the same way. It felt like we were being targeted, and at this point, I didn’t have a sophisticated understanding of gentrification and how it works. The only perspective I really had was to feel like, ‘Why does it feel like the city I love wants to get rid of me and people that look like me?’

I wanted to better understand what happened and how we got here. That’s what compelled me to start this journey. Everything that I learned along the way when I reflected on my coming-of-age experience in New York is what the movie became. I wanted to say farewell to that era.

It would have been around 2016 that I started thinking about [gentrification] in this way, but I realized that ‘Oh, we aren’t just being targeted now.’ We were under attack the entire time, and our community was fighting to stay there the whole time. I wanted to use this movie to showcase the insidiousness of how it all happens and how a community gets to this point where it’s just lost and almost non-existent.

AD: When I was researching for our interview, the number one thing that kept popping up on Google was, ‘Is A Thousand and One based on a real person? Is this a true story?’ I think that speaks to how real these characters feel. Inez (Taylor), in particular, reminds me of many women I know. How did you put these experiences on the page and flesh out her character?

AVR: The highest thing I could hope for is that people receive these characters that way because that’s what I intended. I wanted to write people that felt very layered, complex, and nuanced— like people I knew in real life. And they were complicated. I didn’t want to create space for anybody to be perfect.

I wanted to show the dynamics between people as well. Thinking about the characters, the relationship that Lucky (William Catlett) has with Terry (Josiah Cross) is very different from his dynamic with Inez. It’s the same person, but for some reason, she doesn’t fully have access to the more beautiful parts of him.

I think that’s how it is in life as well. We can be different with different people, how we trigger each other, or what kind of dynamics are in play. Inez is someone who was damaged by the way she had to come up, and that complicates how she connects with people. It complicates how she interacts with the world around her because she’s misunderstood, and nobody pays attention. 

This movie was the opportunity to shine a light on and to humanize women like her. Instead of people trying to give her the support or the medicine that she needs, they’d rather just give a band-aid and say, ‘Why don’t you just quiet down? Why don’t you just shut up or get out of the way?’ I wanted to show her humanity and hoped that people could see themselves in her. And if not, see the people in their lives with more compassion and empathy. 

AD: One moment in the film that I absolutely loved, and I will steal for my personal life, is when Lucky tells Inez, Oh, you’re being so sensitive, and she says, ‘Well, maybe you should be sensitive to my sensitivity.’

AVR: [Laughs]. I think that moment is just emphasizing that from Inez’s perspective: ‘I wanted to feel loved and not just needed; not somebody who you only see and have an affection for when they’re doing something to serve you.’ It’s like, ‘Well, what you’re doing impacts me as well.’ And why can’t you honor me and respect me in the same way I do for you.’

In the bigger picture of the movie and how it speaks on Black women’s experiences—I think that’s a huge thing. We were finishing the screenplay when there was a lot of celebration around Black women being on the front lines of social change on behalf of the community. All of that is really beautiful, but who’s fighting for us? 

That’s what Inez is asking when she says, ‘If I’m sensitive, why can’t you be sensitive to that?’ It’s just asking for reciprocation and for you to see my humanity as well. And know that I’m willing to fight for you, but I would rather we fight these wars together, side by side. Just love on me in the way that I want.

AD: To add to that, two of the most powerful lines in the film are when Inez says it’s hard for damaged people to love. And she also tells Terry that the only people looking out for Black women are Black women. And even that is complicated and messy. I think that’s beautiful and important to see on screen.

AVR: Thank you. I think the line about how damaged people don’t know how to love each other is the belief that Inez wants to tell herself at that point. But, in the end, Terry, in a way, shows up and challenges whether or not that idea is fully true.

AD: Tell me about directing and shepherding your script through the filmmaking process.

AVR: It’s definitely different hats. I love the writing process. Sometimes, it can be challenging because you have to isolate yourself to tap into a world and be immersed in it. But that’s when your ideas are the most free and unrestricted. That can be fun. But then, when you get into the directing seat, it’s the excitement of bringing all those ideas to life. You have to be an excellent problem solver because if something in the screenplay isn’t going to work because of location restrictions, budget, schedules, or whatever else, you have to adapt.

Both [writing and directing] demand a high level of creativity. You’re pulled in different ways. Directing is when the creative process gets a lot more community-based. It gets more collaborative because I may have a clear vision, but I’m relying on all these other talented people to help me see it through. When I’m in the writing stage, it’s just one-on-one until I get feedback from others. 

AD: You and Teyana have spoken a great deal about the bond that you developed. Her performance is just incredible. How did you guide her? What did you say that helped her tap into Inez and understand her to be able to portray her the way that she did?

AVR: Before Teyana got the role, I talked to her about how serious and demanding this role was. This would take a lot out of her, especially as somebody who’s already a public figure with so much going on. I’m like, ‘Do you have the time?’ She was like, ‘No, I’m game. I’m ready.’

And I told her that when people see this character, they need to see Inez. They can’t see Teyana. They can’t just see this as an artist making a cameo in a movie. You have to fully engross yourself and transform. 

As she started preparing, I told her, ‘Anything that Inez wouldn’t use on her face, any type of pampering, anything that Inez can’t do during this period, you have to forego that too.’ Inez would be living in a very different skin. So, I just made her shed her layers in that way. 

And the character that I wrote, I think she is just so nuanced. There are many different shades to her, including how she’s represented in the screenplay from scene to scene, moment to moment, and how her arc progresses. We went through the script thoroughly and highlighted those [subtleties] for her so that she knew how to tap into it. She knew the different sides to Inez and how Inez would handle things from moment to moment, how to go from being so enraged and volatile to this deep vulnerability, this space of, ‘I just wish I could be held by my mom right now.’

We identified all these different pillars that represented Inez’s personality and highlighted them on the page to give Teyana a visual sense of how she was getting from moment to moment. I think that was very helpful for Teyana. And it gave us a shorthand on set.

AD: How has your relationship to this story changed over time and with reflection?

AVR: There’s so much in this story, and I think people can connect to it in different ways.

I’m so proud of how this movie connects to the foster care system and how it connects to people who come from that background. I wanted to honor that experience, especially for the people that I know personally have come out of the system— how their lives have been impacted by it. They would be the most vulnerable to the changes that have happened in New York because of that background. I really wanted to write this for them. I’m really proud of the success of that and the way that they feel like [A Thousand and One] shines a light on that experience. And or in the way that they feel like that experience is honored. I think that’s definitely a significant element. 

AD: Another significant theme is single motherhood. Inez didn’t have a mother. She’s trying to learn how to parent as she goes. And she messes up. I mean, she’s not a perfect mother by any means. You’ve spoken about how we idealize our parents, and as we get older, we realize how flawed and human they are.

AVR: I can only hope that people see themselves as a mom and can point to Inez and say to their kids, ‘This is what my experience was like raising you.’ Through her experience, I hope they feel like there’s a window and opportunity for their kids to empathize with the challenges their moms might’ve faced trying to raise a kid when you’re just trying to figure out life yourself.

And if women don’t see themselves or moms they know, I hope that sons, or any child of a single parent, can see, ‘Oh, this is what my mom was dealing with. And it wasn’t personal. This is an imperfect human being, but that doesn’t minimize the level of love she had for me. And her commitment to doing the best she could with what she had.’

I think in most cases, even in the moments when parents can fail us, they’re doing their best. They fought, they made mistakes, and they didn’t realize it. Or they made mistakes and regret it, but it’s just a human being trying to look after another human being. As you come into adulthood, you have to have compassion for that, and hopefully, that’s healing.

***Spoilers Below***

AD: Lastly, I want to touch on the ending because the revelation that Inez is not Terry’s biological mother adds so much more weight to the sacrifices she has made and the compassion that she shows him because she chose to do this, she chose this child. How did you come to that creative decision? Was that always the plan?

AVR: It was always a plan. I think in writing a story, I had to know the ending first to define what the rest of the story was going to be and how to get there. So, I always knew that it would end with that truth.

To me, Inez was someone who was heroic in the way that she looked out for and loved other people. But, she was very desperate to be loved herself. Who’s going to love you more than a child would? And the unconditional nature of that love. And I think maybe part of her wanted that. She thought, ‘If I do right by this child, I can only hope that he gives me the love I’ve been desperate for in return.’

A Thousand and One is an adoption story. Inez came out of the system, and her tougher life and young adulthood were a byproduct of that. I think she was trying to save someone. Or wish she could save somebody like she wanted to be saved. This again speaks to the fact that the system doesn’t fully work for everyone. But I think it’s beautiful that she was able to create a life for Terry. So much of this story is about the power of family, whether it’s the family you’re born into or the family you choose.

A Thousand and One is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.