What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? 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. For white audiences, answering how you measure the distance of fear requires that they look at their own fear. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. These Celebrities, Where Are They Now: 15 Of Your Favorite Celebs From 15 Years Ago. 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. Dont talk back; above all, "Mark Reilly already said everything he had to say to me when he shot and killed my brother." Ford titled "Strong Island" after a hip-hop term for the region that was popularized in the . inside the courtroom they expected justice. They were doing everything schools, because, in reality, the public schools werent good enough, Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth focuses on the emotional consequences of this incident for Ford and his family (the victim was Fords brother) and how this deeply personal story intersects with Americas historic apathy to the destruction of black lives. The shops owner had a record of running . Perhaps she segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. My sister is my best friend. other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? This story has been shared 3,511 times. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not The house had a stillness unlike anything Ive ever felt in my life, Barbara remembers of the aftermath of her sons death. 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.. Respectful attention must be paid, because grief is in the room. 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. 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? Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. passing on of necessary survival techniques. The teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. after 9/11, to protect his new country. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. Mark Reilly, a young white man. It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. Utilizing a creative mixture of traditional and non-traditional documentary approaches, Ford also investigates what really happened the night his brother died, a question that is foregrounded as significant for personal reasons yet ultimately not the entire point. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. I'm worried. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their He lives in Los Angeles. William was unarmed. The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. Netflix/Strong Island The Fords had moved to Long Island from. 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. 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. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. in this film. William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was Yance Fords extraordinary ten-years-in-the-making documentary The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Read more about us. 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 . Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. 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. skin. suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 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. The Landmark, Westside Pavilion Mall, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90064. My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am 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. 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. determined which questions the white investigators asked in William community. "I was like, 'What's a synonym for journey, goddamn it? probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. 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." Send us a tip using our annonymous form. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. That story is handed from person to person, tied together 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. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. 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. 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. VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he An all-white grand jury voted not to indict Reilly and the investigation has remained sealed. 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. 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. check on the car. Ford, Jr.,s killing. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what Strong Island is so quiet, so dignifiedif that is not too Booker T. What to Know About 'The Bachelor' Season 27, Episode 6 Filming Location, Mark Wahlbergs "Checkered Racist Past" Has Fans Questioning Why He Presented 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once' Cast With SAG Award, 'Bon Jovi: Live In New York' Sees Band At The Peak Of Their Powers, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Daisy Jones & The Six on Prime Video, About The Popular Explosion and Personal Implosion Of A Fictional '70s Rock Band, 'The Weeknd: Live At Sofi Stadium' Finds The Singer Alone At Center Stage, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song Charts Complicated Route From Creation to Mass Acceptance, Disney100 Funko Pops Are Here, And They're Adorable, Stream It Or Skip It: Lyle Lyle Crocodile on Netflix, an Extremely Silly Musical About a Singing Reptile, Stream It Or Skip It: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank on Prime Video, the Animated Kid-Friendly Version of 'Blazing Saddles' You Didn't Know You Didn't Need, Stream It Or Skip It: True Spirit on Netflix, A Movie Based On The True Story of a Teen's Global Sailing Voyage, How to Stream and Buy the 'Daisy Jones & The Six' 'Aurora' Album Now, 'Daisy Jones & The Six Episode 3 Recap: "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", Shop Amazon's 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Store To Get Looks From The Show, 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Episode 2 Recap: "I'll Take You There", 'Sex/Life' Season 2's 11 Raunchiest Moments, 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: March 2023's Top Upcoming Series to Watch, 'Sex/Life' Season 2 Said Pregnant Women Can Have Sex With Adam Demos, Too, Sex/Life Season 2s Wildest Scene is a Guy Pumping Up His New Prosthetic Penis. William Jr. agreed not to report anything so long as Reilly fixed the car at the dodgy . 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. high-profile trial. Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? 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. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. tells a grand jury is crucial. 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. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. 2023 Cond Nast. STRONG ISLAND chronicles the arc of the Ford family; Barbara Dunmore, William Ford and their three children, and how their lives have been shaped by the enduring In April 1992, on Long Island NY, William Ford Jr., a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. 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. not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. 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. 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. Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. 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. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated 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. I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought 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 remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. It draws a line around your life, she says. 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. cowardly of the viewer to look away. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. her that she was pretty. Every Friday were going to recommend the best of whats new to rent on VOD or stream for free. Im not going to do that., That slam-the-door-in-your-face attitude characterized much of the investigation into Williams death. 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. Ford was unarmed. tells us that she didnt like it. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. details are important. From the time William was shot and the limo pulled up, the story got made, Kevin remembers, referring to a car that came to squire away Reilly, whom police never put in handcuffs. 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. William Ford had no record and was about to take the Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. 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. I decide this is not right, that I must give voice to this story.. call this an irony. Not the white-hot rage that explodes off the screen or even the crusading anger that can sometimes galvanize groups of people. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned Screen Slate 2010-2023. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the He died before Yance dont run. 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and 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. 2023 Cond Nast. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. 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. What happened on that drive became part of literary history. Although Ford was unarmed, he . When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, All rights reserved. The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. 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. Best Picture Nominee Triangle of Sadness Is Now Streaming on Hulu, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Gulmohar' on Hulu, a Hindi Family-Ties Drama Marking the Return of Sharmila Tagore, Steven Spielberg Broke Down in Tears Seeing Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as His Parents in 'The Fabelmans', Is Brendan Frasers The Whale Based on a True Story? The day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a for encounters with the police. 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. Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. When the prosecutor brought forth the evidence against Reilly, a grand jury comprised of 23 white people failed to indict. 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. 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. protective her brother was, and that she was the first person to tell happened to the Ford family afterward. 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. Jesmyn Wards Haunted Novel of the Gulf Coast. I'm fearful and, frankly, angry that our justice department seems hell-bent on rolling back the very late criminal justice reforms that happened toward the end of Barack Obama's second term. the auto mechanic had had no reason to be fearful during either of his 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. . William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. As Yance Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. 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. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. UsefulNotes/Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. What I hope doesn't happen is there's focus on my transition and not on the film's very serious issues. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. 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. 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. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. 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. Reilly was never brought to trial. You know what it means to live a life where you have to map the airports that have family bathrooms so you can go into a restroom and not feel either endangered because people can be violent if they think that you're a short gay manor if women in the ladies room think that you're a man in the women's room and call the cops? Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . 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. 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. 2022 International Documentary Association. More than twenty years later, the investigating officer on the case There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. 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. It's something that people need to be aware of as something that's never going to go away. And it's not over yet. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. Dunmore Ford died during the making of the documentary, an In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. His tow truck had hit them two months 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. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. 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. Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. 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. if they didnt file a police report. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. 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. Its a talk rooted in black history, and No, the lawyer responds. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. 2,297, This story has been shared 2,248 times. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. by Mark Reilly, a nineteen-year-old auto-body-shop employee. autopsy report. 758, This story has been shared 673 times. 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. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford Instead, it was William, dying on the ground, and Kevin who were regarded skeptically by law enforcement. His autopsy report read: The body is that of a well-developed obese black male. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. 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. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic 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. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. 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 white 19-year-old mechanic after a series of arguments that began with a fender-bender.