Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. Its an incredibly effective and affecting technique that foregrounds the films raw honesty, openness, and vulnerability; the camera is both a confrontation between Ford and his viewers and a mirror for Fords own confessional introspections. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how autopsy report. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . The effect is intense and elegiac, even as the pace veers toward the overly deliberate, and as Mr. Reilly and some essential witnesses arent interviewed or approached by the filmmaker; no explanation for this omission is given. Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. 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. I decide this is not right, that I must give voice to this story.. government employees who could afford to be homeowners. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. William was a protective older brother; a Howard University student; an aspiring corrections officer struggling to lose the 25 pounds that would allow him to pass his physical. schools, because, in reality, the public schools werent good enough, Netflix/Strong Island The Fords had moved to Long Island from. 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.. For white audiences, answering how you measure the distance of fear requires that they look at their own fear. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. 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. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the 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. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? The family understood that what a D.A. Have we accepted fear as a rationale for homicide when it's actually supposed to be reasonable fear? That includes himself. 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. 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect 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. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, There is no hint of Rodney King or the What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' I did William a 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. It's not newit's just new to you. I'm not gonna use that word again!'". William Jr. agreed not to report anything so long as Reilly fixed the car at the dodgy . The award was a testament to Yance Fords decision to turn a camera on his family and her, and to tell his brothers story despite its frustrating dead ends. by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Best Picture Nominee Triangle of Sadness Is Now Streaming on Hulu, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Gulmohar' on Hulu, a Hindi Family-Ties Drama Marking the Return of Sharmila Tagore, Steven Spielberg Broke Down in Tears Seeing Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as His Parents in 'The Fabelmans', Is Brendan Frasers The Whale Based on a True Story? was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. narrative, put together with subtlety and refinement, unfolds from the Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on 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. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. Dunmore Ford As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Her son had Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . If you need social assistance, they're going to drug test you and make you work x amount of hours a week, and it doesn't matter if you don't have childcare. "Strong Island" tells the story of William Ford Jr., a 24-year-old African-American who was shot by Mark Reilly, a white car mechanic, during a dispute over repairs. She wonders how she could have been so wrong. Reilly claimed self-defense. It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. 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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. In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Since Trayvon Martins killing, we have become familiar with the 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, On April 7, 1992, in Central Islip, a Long Island suburb of New York Strong Island asks what one can do when the grief of loss is entwined with historical injustice, and how one grapples with the complicity of silence, which can bind a family in an imitation of life, and a nation with a false sense of justice., Says Ford: Because Netflix is a global platform, Strong Island will be seen by communities around the world who are dealing with the issues that are unpacked on screen. The film is a form of justice. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . happened to the Ford family afterward. 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 . 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. become frustrated as a customer, forgetting all about inherited white More than twenty years later, the investigating officer on the case 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. 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. William Ford, Sr. had hoped to be a draftsman, but in order to take care of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. Mark Reilly, a young white man. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? It draws a line around your life, she says. 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. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. 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. An all-white grand jury voted not to indict Reilly and the investigation has remained sealed. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. To Tell the Story That Tells the Trial: Ulises de la Orden on El juicio. All rights reserved. William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . After an argument over the delays, tells us that she didnt like it. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads it cuts across class lines. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not And it's not over yet. Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. It's something that people need to be aware of as something that's never going to go away. The Fords move out to Long Island is told as the story of Yances parents, who wanted better for their children than the acidic racism of the Jim Crow south. 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. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? Its a talk rooted in black history, and William Ford, a black man, was shot and killed at the age of 24 by a 19-year-old mechanic named Mark Reilly, at the auto shop where Ford's girlfriend's car was being repaired. 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. The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office There was also a young man in Toronto who asked me how I could reconcile Mark Reilly's fear with my brother's behavior. means that she hadnt warned him about what white people could get away eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. 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. It would be an insult to . 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. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am 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. 758, This story has been shared 673 times. No, the lawyer responds. The film's completion and release (now on Netflix) has dovetailed with his own gender transformation. Ford was black, Reilly white. entrance exam to be a corrections officer. There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was Her father died of an asthma Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? . I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. 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.

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