That includes himself. system fails you? What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. . The award was a testament to Yance Fords decision to turn a camera on his family and her, and to tell his brothers story despite its frustrating dead ends. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. You don't like being the focus of the conversation. 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. 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. He died before Yance 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. eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. 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. We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. Netflix's Strong Island: A Family Searches for Answers - PEOPLE.com 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. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and 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? "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. Its a talk rooted in black history, and unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island testimony of black parents concerning the talk they must have with their Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. All Rights Reserved. segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. 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. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? are gripping in everything they say. Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. black enclave of Central Islip. 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. Dunmore Ford become frustrated as a customer, forgetting all about inherited white His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. William Ford, Sr. had hoped to be a draftsman, but in order to take care from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. 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. schools, because, in reality, the public schools werent good enough, 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 another move that sets, The truth is that the intensity of his surviving relatives emotions is so striking in Yances project that. It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic 852, This story has been shared 793 times. It's not newit's just new to you. Outside of the courtroom, they were the targets of intimidation by an That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. When the data is really there to substantiate the claims of mistreatment and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system for decades. 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. Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. 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. tells us that she didnt like it. It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. 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. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really 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 She wonders how she could have been so wrong. Meet Cleo Anthony, Netflix's 'Money Shot' Documentary Trailer Shines A Harsh Light On Pornhub, The "Most Trafficked Website In The World", 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. Her son had the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his The Backstory of Netflix's Strong Island Documentary - Peoplemag 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. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated 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. been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, Ford, Jr.,s killing. Netflix Nabs Yance Ford's 'Strong Island'; Sundance - Deadline They were doing everything According to them, no crime had been committed. dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not 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. I'm not gonna use that word again!'". Ford was black, Reilly white. resentment of black anger. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. 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. Strong Island (film) - Wikipedia Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. to indict Reilly for manslaughter, accepting the district attorneys 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. "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . All Rights Reserved. Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . 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. Weekend Watch is here for you. Although Ford was unarmed, he . In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. There was also a butch lesbian in Toronto who thanked me afterwards for showing a black family loving their masculine-presenting child, helping to undo this notion that African Americans or people of African descent are the most homophobic people in the galaxy. We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. 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. by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. When I say, "How do you measure the distance of reasonable fear?," it's a real question. 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. As Yance That story is handed from person to person, tied together A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. How Black Lives Matter Is Resisting Trump. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb He was Williams confidante when the latter called to brag about the incident with the vacuum cleaner. . Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am 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. Movie:Strong Island The children The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. 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. Respectful attention must be paid, because grief is in the room. 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. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. Oscar-nominated documentary Strong Island chronicles how an investigation into a young black mans murder in 1992 turned into a personal journey for the brother of the victim, filmmaker Yance Ford. comfort one another. the blow of racial injustice and fell apart. Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? William Ford, Sr., sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? 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 . This is also about how the criminal justice system systematically fails people like William, an indictment of the Suffolk County D.A.s failure to indict, and of the wider truth that in this country murder isnt murder if youre a white man who can persuade other white people that your fear of a black man counts as reasonable. Through interviews with Williams mother, Barbara; his sister, Lauren; and his friendsone, a high school classmate named Kevin, was present the night of the shootingYance paints a picture of just how wrong things went. 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 Tell the Story That Tells the Trial: Ulises de la Orden on El juicio. Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. What We Know, The 8 Best Soundbars To Buy In 2023, Per Experts. college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and Have we accepted fear as a rationale for homicide when it's actually supposed to be reasonable fear? Film Reviews. . if youre uncomfortable with me asking these questions, you should shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. entrance exam to be a corrections officer. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? What happened on that drive became part of literary history. 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. passing on of necessary survival techniques. Studio Screen: Strong Island maysles documentary center determined which questions the white investigators asked in William The grand jury declined It is jagged with anger. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he It would be he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. 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 The generational exchange that was once 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. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how Filmmaker Yance Ford Explores Injustice With His Moving - Essence 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. 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. 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother Read more about us. 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.. Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. Strong Island | The New Yorker The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. Netflix just dropped another true crime documentary. "Strong Island": A family's navigation between loss and injustice - Salon although the property taxes were high. 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. Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. His autopsy report read: The body is that of a well-developed obese black male. 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. 'Strong Island,' about 1992 LI killing, coming to Netflix details are important. "Strong Island" tells the story of the murder of 24-year-old Ford, a black teacher killed by a white 19-year-old mechanic named Mark Reilly in Long Island in 1992. Strong Island review - Little White Lies I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. 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Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her I did William a Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . In 2017, what are you fearful of? Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Dunmore Ford How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? 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. Available on: Netflix. We depend on your memberships and donations. 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Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what . shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that 947, This story has been shared 852 times. "Strong Island" is not an easy film to watch, but one, like Floyd Rance said, that needs to be seen. There's not a rhetorical question in the film. Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had 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.. 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. The day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a 'Strong Island': Doc Explores A Mysterious Murder [Review] We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" All Rights Reserved. The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/StrongIsland. 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. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not We want to hear from you! 758, This story has been shared 673 times. story itself. 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. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned two confrontations with Ford, even though Dunmore Ford herself had been 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. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. 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. 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. disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? 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. A summary of the case gives no I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on And I hated that moment. When do you think the punishing stops? was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. The film is a form of justice. How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice . 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. Ad Choices. I don't know if we'll see it in my lifetime, that's for sure. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed

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