New York City, once heralded as the "city of dreams," where grit alone was enough to make it, is now a place like any other major American city, increasingly made from steel and glass — and also prohibitively expensive. That changing landscape and the dwindling opportunities therein, whether euphemized as "luxury development," "slum clearance" or "vintage micro-units," served as a catalyst for filmmaker A.V. Rockwell when writing her feature directorial debut, "A Thousand and One," in theaters Friday, as a "heartbreak letter" to New York.
"I really wanted to talk about how New York City changed [when it began to] prioritize commerce over its communities and its residents," she said. "Seeing firsthand the impact of gentrification on the Black communities of New York, it felt like we were getting erased and pushed out of the city altogether."
"A Thousand and One," winner of the U.S. dramatic competition grand jury prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival, stars Teyana Taylor as Inez, a young mother who kidnaps her son from the foster care system. What ensues is a wrenching and claustrophobic portrait of struggle and systemic poverty set in the 1990s and early 2000s.
