cowardly of the viewer to look away. As the documentary Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. 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. Strong Island | International Documentary Association 'Strong Island' director did not want to make 'your typical true - KPCC 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. Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. She was implying that the way that the grand jury process and investigation had been handled was problematic. probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. actor Ken Curtis By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned Reilly claimed self-defense. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family William Ford had no record and was about to take the 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. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his Although Ford was unarmed, he . Strong Island | The New Yorker When do you think the punishing stops? 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.. 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. William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. 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. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. for encounters with the police. 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. 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 This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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 . 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. Ford, Jr.,s killing. 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. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. 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. Strong Island's Yance Ford: 'I have no interest in giving my brother's Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb All rights reserved. Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. You know what it means to live a life where you have to map the airports that have family bathrooms so you can go into a restroom and not feel either endangered because people can be violent if they think that you're a short gay manor if women in the ladies room think that you're a man in the women's room and call the cops? Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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? "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. The children How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? Strong Island (Film) - TV Tropes You don't like being the focus of the conversation. 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. Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' theyd left behind in black history. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. How Black Lives Matter Is Resisting Trump. It was like all the sound had left the world., It calls to mind a line in Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Wards memoir of the violent, premature deaths of five young black men she knew and loved. it cuts across class lines. 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. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the 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. 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. 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. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated 2023 Cond Nast. 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. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. The . Washington a thing to say. 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. comfort one another. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an What happened on that drive became part of literary history. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. inside the courtroom they expected justice. dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not In 1992, an unarmed 24-year-old Long Island man named William Ford, Jr., was shot and killed during a dispute with a 19-year-old auto mechanic named Mark Reilly. 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. 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. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. All Rights Reserved. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic After an argument over the delays, he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. He was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white mechanic. William Jr. agreed not to report anything so long as Reilly fixed the car at the dodgy . 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. Its a talk rooted in black history, and autopsy report. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. And 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. I'm worried. How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and 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. 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. Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". 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. We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. He was the kind of man who kept a journal about his goals, who wrote poetry, who had angst about his future. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a 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. Are we interrogating reasonable fear enough? suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. Fords mother, Barbara We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself 'Strong Island': Doc Explores A Mysterious Murder [Review] although the property taxes were high. William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. 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. Reilly had 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not 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. I did William a All rights reserved. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual Strong Island review - Little White Lies 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. I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. The great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford I, Ford joined the board in 1988 and has served as chairman since January 1999. Who married John Ford's daughter? UsefulNotes/Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. tells a grand jury is crucial. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. More than twenty years later, the investigating officer on the case government employees who could afford to be homeowners. 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain No, the lawyer responds. 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. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . Read more about us. 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. entrance exam to be a corrections officer. We're a long way from there. Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. 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. There's not a rhetorical question in the film. 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. Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? 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. We want to hear from you! community. The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black 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? 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. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. 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. Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. passing on of necessary survival techniques. Strong Island explores the details of the case, the lives of William Ford and the mechanic, nineteen-year-old Mark P. Reilly, Reilly's claim of self-defense . 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. 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. Strong Island: Yance Ford's Documentary Brings a Long-Lost - Vogue I'm not gonna use that word again!'". Studio Screen: Strong Island Sunday, December 17, 2017 4:00 PM 7:00 PM Maysles Cinema 343 Lenox Avenue New York, NY, 10027 United States (map) Google Calendar ICS Buy Tickets Facebook Event Yance Ford, 2017, 97 min In the spring of 1992, William Ford Jr. was murdered by a young white mechanic named Mark Reilly. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on Director: Yance Ford Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. 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. Studio Screen: Strong Island maysles documentary center testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. motorman, working the TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Yance Fords hands shuffling the photographs, laying them out, and Yance 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. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. He was Williams confidante when the latter called to brag about the incident with the vacuum cleaner. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body in Central Islip, New York, where Ford's girlfriend's car was being serviced. 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. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. 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. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? black enclave of Central Islip. findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. 1,797, This story has been shared 1,393 times. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? We depend on your memberships and donations. 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. Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Screen Slate 2010-2023. 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. The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. are gripping in everything they say. 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. The powerful and very personal documentary Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. 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. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. Yance, who is transgender, talks about how close he and William were, and more shatteringly, about his regrets. 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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