Actor Teyana Taylor will star as the lead in indie filmmaker AV Rockwell’s feature debut A Thousand And One.

The film follows Inez (Taylor) kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, the mother and son set out to reclaim their home, as well as their identity and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.

Produced by Sight Unseen, Hillman Grad Productions, and Makeready, A Thousand And One is currently in production in New York City.

The film is produced by Sight Unseen’s Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev, Hillman Grad Productions’ Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani, and Makeready’s Brad Weston. Sight Unseen’s Oren Moverman and Rachel Jacobs and Makeready’s Negin Salmasi are executive producing. 

Taylor was most recently seen in Amazon’s Coming 2 America. Her other film credits include Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming and Tyler Perry’s Big Happy Family. She will next be seen starring alongside her husband, Iman Shumpert in the unscripted series We Got Love Teyana and Iman, which premieres on August 18th.

Meanwhile, Rockwell was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film for her distinctive voice and has received fellowships from Tribeca Film Institute, the Sundance Institute and the John S. Guggenheim Foundation.