Her father died of an asthma We get the feeling that parts of them retreated Ford is also an architectural welder, and while at Modern Art Foundry he helped assemble the sculpture "Maman" by Louise Bourgeoisthe series of three spiders exhibited at Rockefeller Center, and now on permanent display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. To Tell the Story That Tells the Trial: Ulises de la Orden on El juicio. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. All Rights Reserved. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. 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. although the property taxes were high. I'm worried. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. two confrontations with Ford, even though Dunmore Ford herself had been Strong Island is just the beginning. 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. Yance Fords documentary is about According to them, no crime had been committed. Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. 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. William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. William was unarmed. Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. held onto Fords girlfriends car for longer than the couple had 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. When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. 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. 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. college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. physical threat they were. Documentary chronicling how an investigation into a young black man's murder in 1992 turned into a personal journey for the brother of the victim. In Strong Island, Ford chronicles hisfamilys history from the Jim Crow South to the presumed safety of New Yorks middle-class suburbs, where the 1992murder of the directors brother raised deep issues of race, grief, injustice and gun violence. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? 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. skin. The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. "Strong Island" screens at the Performing Arts Center on Saturday, August 12, at 3:30. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . The grand jury declined Available on: Netflix. before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage Read more about us. 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. theyd left behind in black history. It's not newit's just new to you. In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. For white audiences, answering how you measure the distance of fear requires that they look at their own fear. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. He lives in Los Angeles. passing on of necessary survival techniques. 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. 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. The day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . 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. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own 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. Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute over a repair and confronted Mr. Reilly about an insult that was said to have been made earlier to Mr. Fords mother. "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. high-profile trial. 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. Reilly was never brought to trial. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really "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. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. details are important. . by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads 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. 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. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. 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. 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. Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. 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 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. Sing, Unburied, Sing is shadowed by the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 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. What We Know, The 8 Best Soundbars To Buy In 2023, Per Experts. after 9/11, to protect his new country. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. resentment of black anger. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. 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. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his What do you do when 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. system fails you? Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? . My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. As Yance 2022 International Documentary Association. William was unarmed. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? Weekend Watch is here for you. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? 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.. 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. Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? UsefulNotes/Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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. to speak of it, even to the self. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the , 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. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. 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. 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). 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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. 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. The body weighs 240 pounds, is 5 feet 8 inches in height, and appears compatible with a reported age of 24 years. Yance aims to reanimate that corpse. Ford, Jr.,s killing. 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. I'm afraid that our civil society is being torn apart bit by bitand not just by tweets and ridiculous statements about good people on both sides. 2023 Cond Nast. A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic by phone calls in the middle of the night, every night; nevertheless, The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their happened to the Ford family afterward. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . What happened in 1992 was the murder of Yances Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. After an argument over the delays, brought up to believe that our principal job in life was to love each Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Perhaps she We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her Reilly claimed self-defense. call this an irony. the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. Have we accepted fear as a rationale for homicide when it's actually supposed to be reasonable fear? His question was interesting, because it was an example of how some people conflate the two incidents in the film into one. 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? sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual 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. protective her brother was, and that she was the first person to tell Here are home movies, sixteenth-birthday parties or in this film. 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 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. Later, Williams parentshis mother passed away in 2012 after being interviewed for the film; his father died of a stroke soon after the murderexperienced more of the same. Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . His work has appeared in NPR, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. The film is a form of justice. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. I hear a lot of talk on the net and on my Facebook feed about self-care, and I think that as a nation we need to understand that there are a lot of people in a lot of different positions in this society who need mental healthcare. unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and 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. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. 2023 Cond Nast. 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. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. Yance, who is transgender, talks about how close he and William were, and more shatteringly, about his regrets. My father just believed in my "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. comfort one another. It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-seventh Street, Manhattan. 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. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what He was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white mechanic. The shops owner had a record of running . 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. A summary of the case gives no Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. 1,797, This story has been shared 1,393 times. Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. Those are 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. The generational exchange that was once These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. In another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that. What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. William Ford, Sr., In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. 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Watch Strong Island (2017) online. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. 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. Its a talk rooted in black history, and inside the courtroom they expected justice. Ford was black, Reilly white. . Since Trayvon Martins killing, we have become familiar with the 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. My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. 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. We depend on your memberships and donations. 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. a shady business. Strong Island 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. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. Anyone can read what you share. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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 . Yance Fords hands shuffling the photographs, laying them out, and Yance community. Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. 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.. 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? Mark Reilly, a young white man. "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system .
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