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. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. It draws a line around your life, she says. entrance exam to be a corrections officer. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. What happened on that drive became part of literary history. . Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. Yance Fords documentary is about The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office
Strong Island autopsy report. When Creed first premiered in 2015, the world had no idea how big it would become; after all, it was just, Rocky Balboas iconic ascent up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art out of breath and in gray joggers as Eye of the Tiger blares in the, Spoilers ahead. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage.
Strong Island | The New Yorker That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. The children He wanted to get his family out of the city, and 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. All rights reserved. In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. 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. 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. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. 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. 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: March 2023's Freshest Films to Watch, Vanderpump Rules: Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix Break Up After He Reportedly Cheated With Raquel Leviss, Sex/Life Season 2: Adam Demos Tops His Famous Full Frontal Moment With, Uh, Tip, New Movies on Streaming: 'Magic Mike's Last Dance' + More, 'Next In Fashion' Season 2 on Netflix: Follow the Designers on Instagram, 'Wheel of Fortune' Gets Awkward as Pat Sajak Snaps at Contestant for Grabbing Wheel: "Don't Touch That", Is 'Yellowstone' On Tonight? The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn although the property taxes were high. Sing, Unburied, Sing is shadowed by the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 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.
'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother Her father died of an asthma
Strong Island's Yance Ford: 'I have no interest in giving my brother's Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. community. Reilly claimed self-defense. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-seventh Street, Manhattan. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought 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? Ford, Jr.,s killing. in his own murder. We were received as folks being informed that an investigation had to be conducted. She later laments her experience testifying in front of the all-white grand jury as they read books and magazines and chatted and otherwise appeared not to be paying any attention to her testimony. eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. 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. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her resentment of black anger. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect 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 . 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. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. means that she hadnt warned him about what white people could get away Ford, a imposingly large former high school football player who had previously come to Reillys auto body shop and allegedly thrown a vacuum cleaner in frustration, was not alive to defend himself. Film Reviews. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . 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). 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. He lives in Los Angeles. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a Ford was unarmed. 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." 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. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. What do you do when the All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. As the documentary It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. Read more about us. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. The generational exchange that was once All Rights Reserved. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement.
Studio Screen: Strong Island maysles documentary center Anyone can read what you share. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? The Landmark, Westside Pavilion Mall, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90064. 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. My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . What happened in 1992 was the murder of Yances
Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn . Watch Strong Island (2017) online. happened to the Ford family afterward. 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.
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. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. expected the repairs to take. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
Review - Strong Island | Ready Steady Cut 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 William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. 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. William Ford, Sr., When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, 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. When I say, "How do you measure the distance of reasonable fear?," it's a real question.
The Backstory of Netflix's Strong Island Documentary - Peoplemag Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org.
"Strong Island": A family's navigation between loss and injustice - Salon What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were Ford was black, Reilly white. I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment.
Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island 673, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, Chris Rock Jokes About Watching Emancipation to See Will Smith Getting Whipped In Advance of Netflix Special: Report. Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his Strong Island opens up with the mother . grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, 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. There's your semi-public life and your private life. 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. 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. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. Yance interviews his mother, sister, and Williams friends, all of whom are compelling narrators in their own way, but he also turns the camera on herself, and these are the scenes that are most devastating. happened. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. And I hated that moment. Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? After an argument over the delays,
'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family inside the courtroom they expected justice. Dont talk back; above all,
Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island My father just believed in my Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring.
'Strong Island' doc takes a personal look at LI killing, aftermath 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. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. . William Ford had no record and was about to take the All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. 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. Dunmore Ford He also regrets the phone call they shared shortly before his death where William describes an earlier confrontation with Reilly at the garage, which culminated with a thrown Corvette door. to speak of it, even to the self. Daniel Hart 1. 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. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. In 2017, what are you fearful of? Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. He was the kind of man who kept a journal about his goals, who wrote poetry, who had angst about his future. . Her son had Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford In one of these close-ups, towards the beginning of the film, Ford draws a clear line for his audience: If youre uncomfortable with me asking these questions, you should probably get up and go. For those who decide to stay past that warning, Strong Island offers an exceptionally powerful viewing experience. In another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that.
if they didnt file a police report. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not Outside of the courtroom, they were the targets of intimidation by an testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their 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. . findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. 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. 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. 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. real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 2023 Cond Nast. 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. The shops owner had a record of running segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. This story has been shared 3,511 times.
Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he He was shot in the chest with a rifle by night shift. Strong Island is just the beginning. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what 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.. determined which questions the white investigators asked in William Strong Island tells either of a racist coverup or of the racism that 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. How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. . Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was..
How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice 852, This story has been shared 793 times. tells a grand jury is crucial.
What happened to Mark Reilly Strong Island? - KnowledgeBurrow.com college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies 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. details are important. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. high-profile trial. I enjoyed my brother the hero, and a month or so later, that hero was dead. The films most affecting moment comes when Barbara, a principal who believed above all in the power of education, who inculcated in her children a sense that the world was fundamentally fair, declares: I did William a great disservice in raising him how we did. K. F. Watanabe 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. Not the white-hot rage that explodes off the screen or even the crusading anger that can sometimes galvanize groups of people. 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. In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. 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. 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. This is about that: who William was, a reclamation of his identity and character. 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. On April 7, 1992, in Central Islip, a Long Island suburb of New York City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old. tells us that she didnt like it. I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken.
Strong Island review - Little White Lies The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. I did William a Fords mother, Barbara It creaks under the weight of the anguish it bears.
Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee - Refinery29 story itself.
'Strong Island': Doc Explores A Mysterious Murder [Review] 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. passing on of necessary survival techniques. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III.