sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual There's your semi-public life and your private life. 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. event that becomes a part of story. Filmmaker Yance Ford Explores Injustice With His Moving - Essence Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. We want to hear from you! unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. Strong Island (2017) | Watch Free Documentaries Online in his own murder. 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. Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. . the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. Meet Cleo Anthony, Netflix's 'Money Shot' Documentary Trailer Shines A Harsh Light On Pornhub, The "Most Trafficked Website In The World", 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? Nothing comes close to describing how astonishing it is for me, that the world will in some measure come to know my brother., Said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP Original Documentary Programming: Yance Fords intimate retelling of his familys history of love, violence and loss is filtered through such a personal lens that each shot captures the complexity of the films many intersecting threads of race, sexuality, class and gender.. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the This is also about how the criminal justice system systematically fails people like William, an indictment of the Suffolk County D.A.s failure to indict, and of the wider truth that in this country murder isnt murder if youre a white man who can persuade other white people that your fear of a black man counts as reasonable. Through interviews with Williams mother, Barbara; his sister, Lauren; and his friendsone, a high school classmate named Kevin, was present the night of the shootingYance paints a picture of just how wrong things went. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? What happened on that drive became part of literary history. I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. 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. Reilly was never brought to trial. The grand jury declined great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. 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Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. call this an irony. 2022 International Documentary Association. Many, many times I wonder: How could I be so wrong?, Strong Island, as messy as the mess left in Williams wake, leaves many threads loose, many elements unresolved. 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. Her father died of an asthma "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . William, an unarmed, black 24-year-old teacher, was slain by Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man who was working at an auto body shop on Long Island. A 22-year-old black man, William Ford, was shot and killed by a 19-year-old white man, a mechanic named Mark Reilly, after a verbal altercation. "Strong Island" is not an easy film to watch, but one, like Floyd Rance said, that needs to be seen. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. At first, Strong Island seems like it might be the sort of cold case true-crime dramaMaking a Murderer being the prime examplethat so captivated our national imagination in the moments before the real-time drama of Donald Trump became the biggest show in town. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. are gripping in everything they say. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? expected the repairs to take. In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had In 2017, what are you fearful of? As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. And 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. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. 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. 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be "Strong Island" tells the story of the murder of 24-year-old Ford, a black teacher killed by a white 19-year-old mechanic named Mark Reilly in Long Island in 1992. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? 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. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Strong Island (Film) - TV Tropes return a true bill because her son was a black man. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. She wonders how she could have been so wrong. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her 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. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 758, This story has been shared 673 times. 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. attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Love at First Kiss' on Netflix, a Spanish Rom-Com About a Man Gifted with 'Romantic Clairvoyance', Stream It Or Skip It: Tonight Youre Sleeping With Me on Netflix, a Dull, Passionless Polish Rom-Dram, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Disconnect: The Wedding Planner' on Netflix, A Nollywood Rom-Com, Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Sunday Affair' on Netflix, a Lukewarm Nollywood Love-Triangle Drama, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me' On HBO Max, Making The Oscars Slap All About Him, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Triangle of Sadness' on Hulu, Ruben Ostlund's Skewering of the Moneyed Elite. . Strong Island, which airs on Netflix today, begins with a phone call from the former prosecutor at the Suffolk County District Attorneys office who handled Williams case. motorman, working the Daniel Hart 1. William Ford had no record and was about to take the focuses on the emotional consequences of this incident for Ford and his family (the victim was Fords brother) and how this deeply personal story intersects with Americas historic apathy to the destruction of black lives. Strong Island | Screen Slate On April 7, 1992, after returning home from his testimony, he was shot in the chest on Long Island, New York, during a heated confrontation with mechanic Mark Reilly, 19, who was working on. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, Ford was unarmed. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. The Backstory of Netflix's Strong Island Documentary - Peoplemag What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' What happened in 1992 was the murder of Yances Watch Strong Island (2017) online. William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was 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. happened. theyd left behind in black history. happened to the Ford family afterward. black enclave of Central Islip. 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. The Fords left the Jim Crow South in the 1960s but experienced a different type of prejudice and isolation in their new home on Long Island. Strong Island is so quiet, so dignifiedif that is not too Booker T. He died before Yance "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 . William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that Screen Slate 2010-2023. I'm not gonna use that word again!'". 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. The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. The generational exchange that was once Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice high-profile trial. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. Since Trayvon Martins killing, we have become familiar with the It's not newit's just new to you. system fails you? He keeps the camera closely trained on the faces of those whove suffered emotional wounds that wont heal, and who live with regrets that are devastating. When do you think the punishing stops? 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. her that she was pretty. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. if they didnt file a police report. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. The children 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. It creaks under the weight of the anguish it bears. A Yanceville Films and Louverture Films production, Strong Island was produced by Ford and Joslyn Barnes and was co-produced by Signe Byrge Srensen for Final Cut for Real. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? But I also hope that the film reminds people that it's not just about the five years after the death of a childit's about the 25 years after the death, the long tail. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. 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? Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. Twenty-four-year-old teacher William Ford was shot and killed after having an altercation with a white mechanic, and the killer was never charged. held onto Fords girlfriends car for longer than the couple had His autopsy report read: The body is that of a well-developed obese black male. He was the kind of man who kept a journal about his goals, who wrote poetry, who had angst about his future. 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. Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. Detroit, Michigan, U.S. William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. (born May 3, 1957) is an American businessman, serving as executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . story itself. Strong Island | International Documentary Association 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. physical threat they were. 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her There is no hint of Rodney King or the Hopefully, after Strong Island, I'll go on to make another film, and another after that. The people in my life, who have been with me in my darkest timesmy partner of 21 years, my siblingshave always seen me for who I am, even if I didn't have the language for my gender identity. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); WatchDocumentaries.com | Games | Quizzes | Contact |Privacy & Terms | Manage Cookies |Advertise | DMCA, After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News. 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 . A summary of the case gives no In the second installment of a political discussion series with the Public Theatre, David Remnick examines the future of Black Lives Matter with the activist Brittany Packnett. it cuts across class lines. My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. Its my hope that this film will offer some a way to make sense of their own experience, and others a new way of seeing. the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his resentment of black anger. Tom Sizemore Dies: 'Saving Private Ryan' & 'Black Hawk Down' Star Was 61; Reactions + Career In Photos, A24 Buys Historic Off Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre For $10M, Ke Huy Quan Lost Health Insurance After Filming Everything Everywhere All At Once, Jay Weston Dies: Lady Sings The Blues Producer Who Gave Al Pacino Broadway Break Was 93. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Yance Fords documentary is about His work has appeared in NPR, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. Though questions of race and justice are raised, Yance Ford more often examines how he and the rest of his middle-class family dealt, or refused to deal, with the tragedy. 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TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. This story has been shared 3,511 times. It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. In a week where a reality TV favourite finally addressed its known colorism problem, Netflix UK dropped The Strays (February 22) a psycholo, Over the decades, popular culture has created dominant narratives of the Dominican Republic that are most often synonymous with poverty, crime, or state vi, This story contains spoilers for Ant-Man: Quantumania. "Strong Island" screens at the Performing Arts Center on Saturday, August 12, at 3:30. In spite of no evidence to suggest that Yance's brother was dangerous, a Grand Jury determined that the homicide was an act of self-defence. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family For audiences that experience this and are finally being believed because of social media, cellphone cameras, body cameras, empirical studies from people like the Marshall Project, books like The New Jim Crow it's like, "OK, finally, now we believe you." How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. And it's not over yet. No, the lawyer responds. I decide this is not right, that I must give voice to this story.. In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . And if we're going to focus on me as a transgender African American, then we need to extrapolate from the violence that's perpetrated against trans women of color especially: How many of those murders have gone unsolved? 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? 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. 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. That story is handed from person to person, tied together 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 again went to the auto shop and was killed. S, Welcome to Love Like This?, a romance column where we, Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Ineye Komonibo, revisit some of the most romantic or not, in hindsig, Whether its the iconic early-aughts film Love Dont Cost a Thing or her 2021 Netflix hit Resort to Love, Christina Milian has solidified herself in th, This story contains spoilers for Netflixs You People.