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. The Backstory of Netflix's Strong Island Documentary - Peoplemag Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 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. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. 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. night shift. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. 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. Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. 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.. Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb 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. The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. And it's not over yet. 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. As Yance On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/StrongIsland. His work has appeared in NPR, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. after 9/11, to protect his new country. The family understood that what a D.A. I'm afraid that our civil society is being torn apart bit by bitand not just by tweets and ridiculous statements about good people on both sides. 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. 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. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. 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. Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-seventh Street, Manhattan. "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 . tells a grand jury is crucial. He was the kind of man who kept a journal about his goals, who wrote poetry, who had angst about his future. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. It would be 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. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. physical threat they were. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? In January,Strong Island won the Sundance Film Festival special jury award for storytelling, with Netflix acquiring the film soon after. Here are home movies, sixteenth-birthday parties or He keeps the camera closely trained on the faces of those whove suffered emotional wounds that wont heal, and who live with regrets that are devastating. And Netflix Acquires Yance Ford'S Strong Island After an argument over the delays, 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. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his call this an irony. Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother Not the white-hot rage that explodes off the screen or even the crusading anger that can sometimes galvanize groups of people. 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. Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. 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. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . Strong Island (2017) | Watch Free Documentaries Online 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. college graduations, and photographs from the nineteen-seventies and tells us that she didnt like it. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that 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. When I say, "How do you measure the distance of reasonable fear?," it's a real question. Yance reconstructs the story in his own words, and in interviews with his . . Film Reviews. Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had They were doing everything No, the lawyer responds. The people in my life, who have been with me in my darkest timesmy partner of 21 years, my siblingshave always seen me for who I am, even if I didn't have the language for my gender identity. 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. shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that actor Ken Curtis Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice 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. 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. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. 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. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. All Rights Reserved. by phone calls in the middle of the night, every night; nevertheless, We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. 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. a shady business. The film will launch globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release in the fall. When the data is really there to substantiate the claims of mistreatment and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system for decades. 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be 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. 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 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. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? 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. All families have their own stories; the Fords' story is one of bloodshed. 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. You don't like being the focus of the conversation. There's your semi-public life and your private life. Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. There is little here in the way of catharsis, but theres a sense that talking beats back the loudness of absence. 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.. We get the feeling that parts of them retreated He died before Yance 758, This story has been shared 673 times. Perhaps she Strong Island: Yance Ford's Documentary Brings a Long-Lost - Vogue I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. Those are If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. check on the car. Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. . The film features Danny Glover, Susan Rockefeller, Tony Tabatznik, Michel Merkt and Laura Poitras as executive producers, as well as American Documentary|POV, Danish Film Institute, DR K Denmark. Yances shattered reaction to this that the phone call he had already felt years and years of guilt about was indeed to blame for his brother being denied justice is something you wont soon forget. Strong Island's Yance Ford: 'I have no interest in giving my brother's Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. 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" 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. We depend on your memberships and donations. It's not newit's just new to you. How Playwright Sam Hunter Processed His Own Trauma, Who Plays Kam Evans on 'Sex/Life' Season 2? community. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. 2023 Cond Nast. In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. 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 When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. 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. entrance exam to be a corrections officer. I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were 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? I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. Strong Island review - Little White Lies brought up to believe that our principal job in life was to love each . not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had Weekend Watch is here for you. There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. Her father died of an asthma 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. "Strong Island": A family's navigation between loss and injustice - Salon 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. if they didnt file a police report. The painful, intimate story of grief to follow focuses on the life and sudden death of Yance's older brother Williammurdered in cold blood in 1992 at the age of 24. narrative, put together with subtlety and refinement, unfolds from the 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. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males . In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. We want to hear from you! The grand jury declined protective her brother was, and that she was the first person to tell 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? Review: 'Strong Island' Explores a Killing and Its Aftermath That story is handed from person to person, tied together An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. held onto Fords girlfriends car for longer than the couple had William was unarmed. Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. 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. passing on of necessary survival techniques. 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. As the documentary 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 (Film) - TV Tropes 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. Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb Strong Island | International Documentary Association 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." When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. What happened in 1992 was the murder of Yances Hopefully, after Strong Island, I'll go on to make another film, and another after that. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought 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. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? We're a long way from there. Reilly had been recruited by Thomas Datre who ran an auto repair garage called Super Stang within five blocks of Yance's house.