Ford was black, Reilly white. When do you think the punishing stops? Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. Dunmore Ford Strong Island by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. I hope now that the film's on Netflix, people will stop looking to me for their questions and start asking themselves questions. If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. 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. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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. 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. The tragedy left the Fords in some deep way unable to 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. William Ford Jr. was shot and killed on April 7, 1992, an incident at the center of the documentary Strong Island. Something deep inside his family also died that night, and Yance Ford, one of Williams siblings and the films director, explores that loss, exposing a grief that is profound and agonizing. 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. The grand jury declined dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not Netflix just dropped another true crime documentary. 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. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. 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. 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. grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect 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. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. I decide this is not right, that I must give voice to this story.. . It draws a line around your life, she says. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. , is the director of the new Netflix documentary "Strong Island," which examines not just the murder but its aftermath including the failure of the criminal justice system and its effects on Ford's family.. Yance Ford was a 19-year-old art student when his brother was killed. "Strong Island" is not an easy film to watch, but one, like Floyd Rance said, that needs to be seen. 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. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned Read more about us. What do you do when the Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? "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 . Yance Fords documentary is about Reilly had 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. dont run. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on . 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? William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. She was implying that the way that the grand jury process and investigation had been handled was problematic. Reilly claimed self-defense. I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. 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, 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. Jesmyn Wards Haunted Novel of the Gulf Coast. 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. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body 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. picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. although the property taxes were high. 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. Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . Daniel Hart 1. 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. 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. Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. 2023 Cond Nast. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were entrance exam to be a corrections officer. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . It would be Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had And it's not over yet. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? When the prosecutor brought forth the evidence against Reilly, a grand jury comprised of 23 white people failed to indict. And I hated that moment. a shady business. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. In Strong Island, Bringing a Murdered Brother Back to Life By Julia Felsenthal September 15, 2017 In 1992, an unarmed 24-year-old Long Island man named William Ford, Jr., was shot and. story itself. His autopsy report read: The body is that of a well-developed obese black male. Movie:Strong Island shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth 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. 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. The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. He lives in Los Angeles. unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and It proved that sometimes people will hear what they want to hear in the way that they want to hear itbut I was able to answer him and ask a question about who he was. When the data is really there to substantiate the claims of mistreatment and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system for decades. Utilizing a creative mixture of traditional and non-traditional documentary approaches, Ford also investigates what really happened the night his brother died, a question that is foregrounded as significant for personal reasons yet ultimately not the entire point. "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? In 2017, what are you fearful of? Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. Strong Island is just the beginning. 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? it cuts across class lines. 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. The 1967 film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton as a ne, Tessa Thompson Talks Going To Couples Therapy With Michael B. Jordan. All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. The 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. 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.. No, the lawyer responds. check on the car. To Tell the Story That Tells the Trial: Ulises de la Orden on El juicio. 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. 2022 International Documentary Association. The easiest way to deal with 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. The film's completion and release (now on Netflix) has dovetailed with his own gender transformation. by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? William was unarmed. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and 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. details are important. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. She wonders how she could have been so wrong. 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). The Landmark, Westside Pavilion Mall, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90064. 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. after 9/11, to protect his new country. It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. My father just believed in my reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. 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. 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. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic system fails you? trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual That includes himself. William Ford, Sr., Ad Choices, Actor Graham McTavish Planned a Scottish Castle Wedding for His Bride Garance Dor, 70 Incredible Forgotten Photos From Vintage Oscar Nights, Phil Ohs Best Street Style Photos From the Fall 2023 Shows in Paris. 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? determined which questions the white investigators asked in William
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