‘A Thousand and One’ is Teyana Taylor’s answered prayer

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Teyana Taylor says the praise she’s received for her new film, “A Thousand and One” is “everything I prayed for.” A.V. Rockwell’s directorial debut, which won the grand jury prize at Sundance this year, follows a young New York City woman and her 6-year-old son, following her release from jail in 1994. Inez takes her child from foster care without permission, and the movie tracks their ups, downs and hardships living in a tough and changing New York without much help. Rockwell, who also wrote the film, says she’s grateful the attention the film has received, saying “I wanted to reach people, heal people, connect people to each other.”