Update January 24, 2018: Strong Island has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, making Ford the first trans person to ever receive an Oscar . Dont talk back; above all, Strong Island the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his It would be http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/StrongIsland. City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought In another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that. Movie:Strong Island He was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white mechanic. The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. And "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . We want to hear from you! I did William a unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Washington a thing to say. Yance Ford, who is transgender, is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, a Sundance Documentary Film Program Fellowship, and was among Filmmaker Magazines 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2011. probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. Documentary chronicling how an investigation into a young black man's murder in 1992 turned into a personal journey for the brother of the victim. Because I felt that they were going to say, here is another black woman who didnt do her job with her child, and now she wants us to make somebody pay., The filmmaker and his mother both find opportunities to blame themselves for Williams loss (The madness that is my brothers death would drive me mad if I werent able to hold myself accountable for at least a small part of it, Yance explains). 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. Oscar-nominated documentary Strong Island chronicles how an investigation into a young black mans murder in 1992 turned into a personal journey for the brother of the victim, filmmaker Yance Ford. Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Strong Island, Yance Fords documentary that premiered at Sundance and is set to screen Sunday at New Yorks New Directors/New Films fest. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. story itself. Yance Fords extraordinary ten-years-in-the-making documentary Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . Strong Island, a documentary chronicling the 1992 murder of first-time filmmaker Yance Ford's brother, William Ford Jr., and the effect it had on him and his family, incorporates the dynamics of a police-like procedural and gut-wrenching, upfront, self- confession. autopsy report. inside themselves, away from family connection. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . high-profile trial. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage In college, struggling with his sexuality and gender identity (he is trans), the younger Ford saw it as a bonding moment, and so he kept the call a secret from his parents. William Ford had no record and was about to take the Fords death, as his grieving mother puts it, was in vain., Twenty-five years later, filmmaker Yance Ford has revisited the details of his older brothers death in a challenging, emotionally stinging documentary. happened to the Ford family afterward. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. Strong Island questions whether justice can be found, through the intimate story of the filmmaker's brother who was lost to gun violence, and the family's painful search for answers. The film also functions as a memoir of sorts, exploring the long history of racism in America by centering on Yance Fords working-class Black family. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her Triangle of Sadness Ending Explained: Does Abigail Kill Yaya? My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. A summary of the case gives no cowardly of the viewer to look away. Strong Island opens up with the mother . are gripping in everything they say. When I say, "How do you measure the distance of reasonable fear?," it's a real question. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. . By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. in this film. Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute over a repair and confronted Mr. Reilly about an insult that was said to have been made earlier to Mr. Fords mother. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. Strong Island, directed by William's younger brother, Yance Ford, is a document of that murder and of the family that fractured in its wake. Those are The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. experience gave her a love of teaching. For ten years Ford was privileged to work as Series Producer for the PBS showcase POV and where his curatorial work helped garner more than 16 Emmy nominations. When do you think the punishing stops? Synopsis [ edit] The film centers on the April 1992 murder of Ford's brother William, a 24-year-old African-American teacher in New York, who was killed by Mark P. Reilly, a 19-year-old white chop shop mechanic. Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. black enclave of Central Islip. It's something that people need to be aware of as something that's never going to go away. After an argument over the delays, In April 1992 on Long Island, New York, 24-year-old black teacher William Ford Jr. was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic. Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, it cuts across class lines. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. They were doing everything We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' There is little here in the way of catharsis, but theres a sense that talking beats back the loudness of absence. William was unarmed. In April 1992, on Long Island NY, William Ford Jr., a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? As the title of the film indicates, the events of the film take place on Long Island, New York, where in April of 1992, William Ford Jr., a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic after a series of arguments that began with a fender-bender. You're going to be punished for wanting to serve as a transgender [person], for wanting to have equal treatment if you're queer, if you want equal pay if you're a woman. "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. Reilly shot Ford through the heart with a rifle but an all-white grand jury, after a less-than-enthusiastic investigation, declined to issue an indictment, and the case died. Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an happened. grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect Yance Ford has directed a movie about the death of his brother that distills this kind of frustration into something heartbreaking, but thats what makes it a vital and powerful film. No, the lawyer responds. Available on: Netflix. by phone calls in the middle of the night, every night; nevertheless, Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. But its actually a far more personal, probing project, less a relitigation than a reckoning, less a procedural than a film about the Sisyphean task of processing terrible grief. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. The Landmark, Westside Pavilion Mall, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90064. Just talking about my transition and when I "came out" is a bit weird, because we have this expectation that every moment of our lives and realization about ourselves is going to be lived in some public arena. Yance Ford: I was at Sundanceit was maybe our second screeningand someone in the audience during the Q&A said she'd been in the Bronx ADA's office for 18 years, and that in her opinion, something very wrong happened with this case. Ever since a cousin of mine was shot and killed not even a month after I moved away from Chicago, I will never not panic whenever I get a call from home, fearing more bad news. There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. STRONG ISLAND chronicles the arc of the Ford family; Barbara Dunmore, William Ford and their three children, and how their lives have been shaped by the enduring shadow of race in America. What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. Ford is also an architectural welder, and while at Modern Art Foundry he helped assemble the sculpture "Maman" by Louise Bourgeoisthe series of three spiders exhibited at Rockefeller Center, and now on permanent display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. His autopsy report read: The body is that of a well-developed obese black male. if youre uncomfortable with me asking these questions, you should real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. Strong Island, a documentary chronicling the 1992 murder of first-time filmmaker Yance Ford's brother, William Ford Jr., and the effect it had on him and his family, incorporates the dynamics of a police-like procedural and gut-wrenching, upfront, self- confession. Ford was unarmed. Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain The generational exchange that was once Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. Strong Island is so quiet, so dignifiedif that is not too Booker T. the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. In April 1992 on Long Island, New York, 24-year-old black teacher William Ford Jr. was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic. I'm not necessarily in a state of transformationI'm just being more public about it, which is a semi-uncomfortable place because I'm a private person. For the past ten years, director Yance Ford has been investigating his family's story and the events that unfurled following his brother's murder. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. "Mark Reilly already said everything he had to say to me when he shot and killed my brother." Ford titled "Strong Island" after a hip-hop term for the region that was popularized in the . Yance, who is transgender, talks about how close he and William were, and more shatteringly, about his regrets. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. I hear a lot of talk on the net and on my Facebook feed about self-care, and I think that as a nation we need to understand that there are a lot of people in a lot of different positions in this society who need mental healthcare. William Ford, Sr. had hoped to be a draftsman, but in order to take care As the title of the film indicates, the events of the film take place on Long Island, New York, where in April of 1992, William Ford Jr., a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a . I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. Jesmyn Wards Haunted Novel of the Gulf Coast. What happened on that drive became part of literary history. Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. Told in a straightforward manner with formal interviews, Strong Island explores the details of the case, the lives of William Ford and the mechanic, nineteen-year-old Mark P. Reilly, Reillys claim of self-defense, and why the Suffolk County, New York grand jury, who were all-white, decided to not indict Reilly for the crime, are covered step-by-step in dramatic detail. In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how The film is a form of justice. Reilly shot Ford through the heart with a rifle but an all-white grand jury, after a less-than-enthusiastic investigation, declined to issue an indictment, and the case died. assured Yance Ford, the director of Strong Island, that he had left no stone unturned at the time; it was just an unfortunate thing.. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. details are important. In an appropriation of true crime style, details and testimonies are shuffled around to increase curiosity and unveil late revelations, some of which are devastating. It draws a line around your life, she says. William was unarmed. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. although the property taxes were high. disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to The children These Romantic Movies Are Guaranteed To Make You Cry, The Greatest Romantic Comedies That Youll Watch On Repeat, The Hottest Movie Sex Scenes, Ever (NSFW), The Best Part Of Snapchat? been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. In Strong Island, Bringing a Murdered Brother Back to Life By Julia Felsenthal September 15, 2017 In 1992, an unarmed 24-year-old Long Island man named William Ford, Jr., was shot and. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body This is interwoven with the history of Fords family told through photographs, detailing roots in the Jim Crow South and his parents courtship and the eventual pursuit and dissolution of the American dream in the red-lined Long Island neighborhood wherein Ford grew up and William was murdered. In 2017, what are you fearful of? Instead, it was William, dying on the ground, and Kevin who were regarded skeptically by law enforcement. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. The tragedy left the Fords in some deep way unable to William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . The entire feature is a personal journey for the filmmaker, who has had to endure years of pain because of their brother's death, which has received no justice at all despite the seemingly obvious murder. Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. William Ford, Sr., Yances shattered reaction to this that the phone call he had already felt years and years of guilt about was indeed to blame for his brother being denied justice is something you wont soon forget. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not When we realize that punishing doesn't work and that justice ought to be about restorationthat the civil institutions of our justice system should work equally for everyone. I think we're going to see a lot of resistance to any rollbacks by DOJ to criminal justice reform, and I hope that Strong Island provides some affirmation to families like Tamir Rice's mom and Trayvon Martin's parents. Review: Strong Island Explores a Killing and Its Aftermath, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/movies/strong-island-review.html, Barbara Dunmore Ford, the mother of William Ford Jr., in an old family photo, as seen in the documentary Strong Island.. motorman, working the I'm afraid that we're going to move backward to a time when we've embraced a punishment mentality to solve everythingnot just crime but everything. William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Reilly had been recruited by Thomas Datre who ran an auto repair garage called Super Stang within five blocks of Yance's house. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am The painful, intimate story of grief to follow focuses on the life and sudden death of Yance's older brother Williammurdered in cold blood in 1992 at the age of 24. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? He wanted to get his family out of the city, and himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. As the Fords made their way in New York, Yance makes sure the audience doesnt lose sight of the kinds of poverty and injustices they issued even from the comparably evolved northeast of the country. suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. Respectful attention must be paid, because grief is in the room. All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. actor Ken Curtis With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . Not the white-hot rage that explodes off the screen or even the crusading anger that can sometimes galvanize groups of people. government employees who could afford to be homeowners. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The 1967 film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton as a ne, Tessa Thompson Talks Going To Couples Therapy With Michael B. Jordan. There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. Fords mother, Barbara protective her brother was, and that she was the first person to tell Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. Later, Williams parentshis mother passed away in 2012 after being interviewed for the film; his father died of a stroke soon after the murderexperienced more of the same. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, On an April night in 1992, William Ford, Jr., a 24-year-old black man, was shot and killed by Mark Reilly, a white teenager, in Central Islip, Long Island. 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. We then see Yance get decades-old information from a police officer after literally years of trying in vain to get any information about the investigation out of the authorities who says that the earlier altercation was indeed a big part of the reason why the grand jury thought Reilly was acting in self-defense. system fails you? 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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Mark Valentines Day With Commitment Tattoos, Heres Everything Coming to Netflix in March 2023, 17 Oscar-Nominated Netflix Films to Watch in Honor of Awards Season, 8 Skin-Care Dos And Donts According to an A-List Facialist, Meet Etienne Fleurquin, the Danish Model Who Was a Saint Laurent Exclusive. night shift. All Rights Reserved. I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. determined which questions the white investigators asked in William We're a long way from there. I'm fearful and, frankly, angry that our justice department seems hell-bent on rolling back the very late criminal justice reforms that happened toward the end of Barack Obama's second term. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. for encounters with the police. The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office I don't want to say that I'm not optimistic, but I don't think that optimism is in my toolbox of feelings, honestly. if they didnt file a police report.
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