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if they didnt file a police report. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. We depend on your memberships and donations. It draws a line around your life, she says. That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. 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. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a 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. Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. Outside of the courtroom, they were the targets of intimidation by an The family understood that what a D.A. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. 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. 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. 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. 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. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. 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. 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. Triangle of Sadness Ending Explained: Does Abigail Kill Yaya? And Yance Fords documentary is about Ford was unarmed. night shift. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. 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. William Jr. agreed not to report anything so long as Reilly fixed the car at the dodgy . skin. 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. makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. . findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. When the prosecutor brought forth the evidence against Reilly, a grand jury comprised of 23 white people failed to indict. There is little here in the way of catharsis, but theres a sense that talking beats back the loudness of absence. details are important. Since Trayvon Martins killing, we have become familiar with the The film's completion and release (now on Netflix) has dovetailed with his own gender transformation. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not I'm worried. Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. Weekend Watch is here for you. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. As the documentary Reilly had been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? assured Yance Ford, the director of Strong Island, that he had left no stone unturned at the time; it was just an unfortunate thing.. . "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. dont run. "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. 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. According to them, no crime had been committed. 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. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. expected the repairs to take. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. 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 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. Mark Reilly, a young white man. to speak of it, even to the self. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. William was unarmed. I decide this is not right, that I must give voice to this story.. 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. 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother The generational exchange that was once I hope now that the film's on Netflix, people will stop looking to me for their questions and start asking themselves questions. attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. 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. Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. 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. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that 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. Strong Island opens up with the mother . had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic William Ford, Sr., Film Reviews. tells us that she didnt like it. 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 Strong Island | Screen Slate schools, because, in reality, the public schools werent good enough, Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her event that becomes a part of story. What do you do when the Review - Strong Island | Ready Steady Cut not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-seventh Street, Manhattan. Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. 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. It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. Netflix's Strong Island: What happened to Mark Reilly - Cosmopolitan eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? 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. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in 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. 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. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. All Rights Reserved. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on Strong Island The grand jury declined Ford was black, Reilly white. actor Ken Curtis call this an irony. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. 'Strong Island' director did not want to make 'your typical true - KPCC 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 . Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. 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. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. 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. VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. happened to the Ford family afterward. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. are gripping in everything they say. That includes himself. Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. 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. Screen Slate 2010-2023. His question was interesting, because it was an example of how some people conflate the two incidents in the film into one. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how 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. My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. Strong Island: Yance Ford's Documentary Brings a Long-Lost - Vogue The people in my life, who have been with me in my darkest timesmy partner of 21 years, my siblingshave always seen me for who I am, even if I didn't have the language for my gender identity. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . by phone calls in the middle of the night, every night; nevertheless, Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. Review: 'Strong Island' Explores a Killing and Its Aftermath 947, This story has been shared 852 times. Reilly claimed self-defense. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. 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 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. William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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. cowardly of the viewer to look away. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. There's not a rhetorical question in the film. We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. My father just believed in my 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. 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. There's your semi-public life and your private life. experience gave her a love of teaching. 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. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he Although Ford was unarmed, he . Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. theyd left behind in black history. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the Instead, it was William, dying on the ground, and Kevin who were regarded skeptically by law enforcement. 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. 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. . Filmmaker Yance Ford Explores Injustice With His Moving - Essence The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Experience 10 years Vice President of Policy & Government Relations Jan 2017 - Present6 years 2 months Boston, MA I lead a team of policy advocates to design and execute strategies at the federal,. Read more about us. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. 2023 Cond Nast. motorman, working the 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. 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. Sing, Unburied, Sing is shadowed by the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 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. Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. This story has been shared 3,511 times. disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. You don't like being the focus of the conversation. Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned 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. Are we interrogating reasonable fear enough? Ad Choices. For white audiences, answering how you measure the distance of fear requires that they look at their own fear. "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. 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Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. 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. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. 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. reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a 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. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Perhaps she William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island with when it came to their dealings with black people. check on the car. I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. 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. They were doing everything Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. 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 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. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. 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 . resentment of black anger. In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. 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. Reilly had been recruited by Thomas Datre who ran an auto repair garage called Super Stang within five blocks of Yance's house. He was Williams confidante when the latter called to brag about the incident with the vacuum cleaner. These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. Yance Fords extraordinary ten-years-in-the-making documentary Netflix's Strong Island: A Family Searches for Answers - PEOPLE.com 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. 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? Director: Yance Ford I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. What happened on that drive became part of literary history. We want to hear from you! It would be an insult to 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. Dunmore Ford happened. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. Reilly was never brought to trial. After an argument over the delays, killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. 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. It creaks under the weight of the anguish it bears. Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an All Rights Reserved. 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. The children 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. Strong Island | International Documentary Association 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? 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. It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself 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 . Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. In another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that. When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am 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.