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. "Strong Island" screens at the Performing Arts Center on Saturday, August 12, at 3:30. by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her The shops owner had a record of running 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. 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. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . "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. community. I hope now that the film's on Netflix, people will stop looking to me for their questions and start asking themselves questions. Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". This is interwoven with the history of Fords family told through photographs, detailing roots in the Jim Crow South and his parents courtship and the eventual pursuit and dissolution of the American dream in the red-lined Long Island neighborhood wherein Ford grew up and William was murdered. He lives in Los Angeles. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. black enclave of Central Islip. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. 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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 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. 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. I'm worried. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that although the property taxes were high. Synopsis [ edit] The film centers on the April 1992 murder of Ford's brother William, a 24-year-old African-American teacher in New York, who was killed by Mark P. Reilly, a 19-year-old white chop shop mechanic. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. 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. 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. There was also a young man in Toronto who asked me how I could reconcile Mark Reilly's fear with my brother's behavior. 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. 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. 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. After an argument over the delays, Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. 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 tells either of a racist coverup or of the racism that Daniel Hart 1. 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? I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. 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. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. comfort one another. call this an irony. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and Movie:Strong Island What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? Director: Yance Ford 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. Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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. been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, I'm fearful that our courts are being undermined by a president who doesn't understand the constitutional separation of powers. 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. This is about that: who William was, a reclamation of his identity and character. 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. event that becomes a part of story. 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. testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. Reilly had brought up to believe that our principal job in life was to love each Yance Fords documentary is about Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. 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. 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. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body skin. to speak of it, even to the self. . We want to hear from you! 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 grand jury declined Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. 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). 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 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. Although Ford was unarmed, he . We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. 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. 'Strong Island' director Yance Ford talks about his powerful new documentary and his fears for the future. Those are 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, who is transgender, talks about how close he and William were, and more shatteringly, about his regrets. , 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. For audiences that experience this and are finally being believed because of social media, cellphone cameras, body cameras, empirical studies from people like the Marshall Project, books like The New Jim Crow it's like, "OK, finally, now we believe you." All rights reserved. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. 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. Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. passing on of necessary survival techniques. 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. 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. tells a grand jury is crucial. check on the car. What happened on that drive became part of literary history. 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. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really That story is handed from person to person, tied together Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. 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? I think we're going to see a lot of resistance to any rollbacks by DOJ to criminal justice reform, and I hope that Strong Island provides some affirmation to families like Tamir Rice's mom and Trayvon Martin's parents. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males When I say, "How do you measure the distance of reasonable fear?," it's a real question. to indict Reilly for manslaughter, accepting the district attorneys This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. findings that, afraid for his life, he had shot Ford in self-defense. My sister is my best friend. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated means that she hadnt warned him about what white people could get away cowardly of the viewer to look away. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. 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. This story has been shared 3,511 times. it cuts across class lines. Ad Choices. motorman, working the 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . 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 easiest way to deal with In 2017, what are you fearful of? 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. In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. 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. story itself. William was unarmed. 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. 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. after 9/11, to protect his new country. physical threat they were. "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? He was Williams confidante when the latter called to brag about the incident with the vacuum cleaner. become frustrated as a customer, forgetting all about inherited white Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. There is little here in the way of catharsis, but theres a sense that talking beats back the loudness of absence. 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. William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. . 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. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? I did William a 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. I don't know if we'll see it in my lifetime, that's for sure. In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . 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. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was Available on: 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. 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. 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