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. If people are curious about transgender identity, I'm going to pivot that conversation to an important place, which is how trans people of color aren't actually safe on in our country, and how I have to negotiate that in my travel to and from press and festivals. Strong Island tells either of a racist coverup or of the racism that 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. the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his 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. Netflix just dropped another true crime documentary. Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. There is no hint of Rodney King or the 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. I don't know if we'll see it in my lifetime, that's for sure. 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. In another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how 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. When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William 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. 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. We're a long way from there. Netflix Nabs Yance Ford's 'Strong Island'; Sundance - Deadline 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. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. 852, This story has been shared 793 times. 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. 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. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. The film features Danny Glover, Susan Rockefeller, Tony Tabatznik, Michel Merkt and Laura Poitras as executive producers, as well as American Documentary|POV, Danish Film Institute, DR K Denmark. 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. Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. The easiest way to deal with Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford become frustrated as a customer, forgetting all about inherited white Strong Island (2017) directed by Yance Ford - Letterboxd cowardly of the viewer to look away. According to them, no crime had been committed. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" It is jagged with anger. 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. 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? In 2017, what are you fearful of? 2022 International Documentary Association. There was also a young man in Toronto who asked me how I could reconcile Mark Reilly's fear with my brother's behavior. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were 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. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. Strong Island shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that . 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. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. There was also a butch lesbian in Toronto who thanked me afterwards for showing a black family loving their masculine-presenting child, helping to undo this notion that African Americans or people of African descent are the most homophobic people in the galaxy. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. 2023 Cond Nast. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. 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. We want to hear from you! Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. 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. grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. 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. 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. 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. 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 Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Netflix's Strong Island: What happened to Mark Reilly - Cosmopolitan Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. comfort one another. Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. check on the car. Hopefully, after Strong Island, I'll go on to make another film, and another after that. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? 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. 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family No, the lawyer responds. City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed All rights reserved. He was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white mechanic. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. Movie:Strong Island For white audiences, answering how you measure the distance of fear requires that they look at their own fear. black enclave of Central Islip. Dont talk back; above all, 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. His work has appeared in NPR, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. a shady business. system fails you? 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. 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. How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? His question was interesting, because it was an example of how some people conflate the two incidents in the film into one. I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. The family understood that what a D.A. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. for encounters with the police. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. His tow truck had hit them two months Sing, Unburied, Sing is shadowed by the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. to indict Reilly for manslaughter, accepting the district attorneys 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. 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. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. He died before Yance 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. 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. My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. And I hated that moment. 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. Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island community. Strong Island review - Little White Lies 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. She was implying that the way that the grand jury process and investigation had been handled was problematic. 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. UsefulNotes/Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. 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. 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. The grand jury declined by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads 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. resentment of black anger. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. 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 regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. William was unarmed. tells a grand jury is crucial. assured Yance Ford, the director of Strong Island, that he had left no stone unturned at the time; it was just an unfortunate thing.. 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. 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. All Rights Reserved. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was The real driving force of the film, however, is Ford himself, who appears in tight close-ups, looking directly into the camera to tell his story and deal with his process of grief. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the Daniel Hart 1. 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. How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice 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.. A summary of the case gives no brought up to believe that our principal job in life was to love each Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. Documentary about LI killing up for Oscar - Long Island Business News 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. 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. autopsy report. two confrontations with Ford, even though Dunmore Ford herself had been The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. 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. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. Yance Fords documentary is about "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.