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? schools, because, in reality, the public schools werent good enough, 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. William was unarmed. 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.. That story is handed from person to person, tied together 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. 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. Movie:Strong Island with when it came to their dealings with black people. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. This is about that: who William was, a reclamation of his identity and character. Perhaps she What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. The right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought 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. 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? William Ford had no record and was about to take the 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. to indict Reilly for manslaughter, accepting the district attorneys Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. 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. 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. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. 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. In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. 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. My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Ford was black, Reilly white. Washington a thing to say. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? Review - Strong Island | Ready Steady Cut 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. After an argument over the delays, Documentary about LI killing up for Oscar - Long Island Business News a shady business. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. I'm not gonna use that word again!'". 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. Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. Netflix/Strong Island The Fords had moved to Long Island from. Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her According to them, no crime had been committed. Strong Island (Film) - TV Tropes 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. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. 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 . The day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a The Fords left the Jim Crow South in the 1960s but experienced a different type of prejudice and isolation in their new home on Long Island. Strong Island review - Little White Lies The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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. All Rights Reserved. great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. Reilly was never brought to trial. I did William a Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. resentment of black anger. 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 vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. 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. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/StrongIsland. high-profile trial. testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their 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. And It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. 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. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Strong Island Hopefully, after Strong Island, I'll go on to make another film, and another after that. Strong Island (2017) directed by Yance Ford - Letterboxd No, the lawyer responds. 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. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. if they didnt file a police report. Ford was unarmed. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from [email protected]. 2023 Cond Nast. details are important. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. Film Reviews. What happened in 1992 was the murder of Yances real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had 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 . story itself. The tragedy left the Fords in some deep way unable to I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. The film is a form of justice. held onto Fords girlfriends car for longer than the couple had The easiest way to deal with They were doing everything 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. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice . own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. And it's not over yet. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic 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. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. Strong Island (2017) | Watch Free Documentaries Online Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and protective her brother was, and that she was the first person to tell although the property taxes were high. Netflix Nabs Yance Ford's 'Strong Island'; Sundance - Deadline 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. experience gave her a love of teaching. findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. Director: Yance Ford 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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Reilly had The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. 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. How Black Lives Matter Is Resisting Trump. Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. 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. Strong Island won the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Are we interrogating reasonable fear enough? 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. William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . 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. Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. 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 Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. 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. 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. 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. skin. 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. In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. And I hated that moment. William Ford, Sr., other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not 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 It's not newit's just new to you. 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. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his 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. It draws a line around your life, she says. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? 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. 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. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. 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. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. Those are 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. 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. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All rights reserved. He was killed right outside of his home, and his mother has to look at the spot where her son died every time she sits on her front porch. 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. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office 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. I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. 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. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. Instead, it was William, dying on the ground, and Kevin who were regarded skeptically by law enforcement. Anyone can read what you share. 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? Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. 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. 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. 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. Although Ford was unarmed, he . Tom Sizemore Dies: 'Saving Private Ryan' & 'Black Hawk Down' Star Was 61; Reactions + Career In Photos, A24 Buys Historic Off Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre For $10M, Ke Huy Quan Lost Health Insurance After Filming Everything Everywhere All At Once, Jay Weston Dies: Lady Sings The Blues Producer Who Gave Al Pacino Broadway Break Was 93. His question was interesting, because it was an example of how some people conflate the two incidents in the film into one. Read more about us. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. 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. The children 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). These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. 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. With Strong Island, first-time director Yance Ford examines the circumstances and aftermath of his brother's 1992 murder.When 24-year-old William Ford, Jr. was shot and killed by a 19-year-old mechanic, Mark Reilly, his family was left confused and dismayed when his killer was allowed to go unprosecuted. In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family assured Yance Ford, the director of Strong Island, that he had left no stone unturned at the time; it was just an unfortunate thing.. 'Strong Island' director did not want to make 'your typical true - KPCC determined which questions the white investigators asked in William 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. 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. Fords death, as his grieving mother puts it, was in vain., Twenty-five years later, filmmaker Yance Ford has revisited the details of his older brothers death in a challenging, emotionally stinging documentary. 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. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he The Landmark, Westside Pavilion Mall, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90064. Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. Yance Fords extraordinary ten-years-in-the-making documentary 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. It creaks under the weight of the anguish it bears. 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. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. It would be 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. The shops owner had a record of running Studio Screen: Strong Island maysles documentary center Strong Island | The New Yorker 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. 1,797, This story has been shared 1,393 times. . My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. 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 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.