It would be 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. 793, This story has been shared 758 times. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? Available on: Netflix. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her According to them, no crime had been committed. It draws a line around your life, she says. Ford, Jr.,s killing. great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. 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. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. In all its glory, Strong Island is as intimate as documentaries get. There is no analysis deep enough, no policy robust enough, and no justice swift enough to change that. 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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 reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. 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. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. 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. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. He lives in Los Angeles. 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. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. 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. The film is a form of justice. Dunmore Ford Reilly had physical threat they were. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that They were doing everything All Rights Reserved. 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. It is heartbreaking to hear Fords mother reproach herself 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. 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. William Ford, Sr., 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. Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. 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? The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office 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. night shift. 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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . 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. 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. That's the thing that's going to be tough for people. 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. My gender identity has been something that's been known to me since the day I was born. black enclave of Central Islip. All Rights Reserved. William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . 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 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. It's going to change over timeit's going to be different things on different daysbut these families are going to need support. Mr. Ford had gone there after a dispute. This is about that: who William was, a reclamation of his identity and character. Mark Reilly, a young white man. Her father died of an asthma There was also a young man in Toronto who asked me how I could reconcile Mark Reilly's fear with my brother's behavior. 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. 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. Were Strong Island a strict procedural, that exclusion would be more glaring. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Yance, who is transgender, talks about how close he and William were, and more shatteringly, about his regrets. I became very angry with myself because at one point I began to cry. 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. 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. reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. Its a talk rooted in black history, and 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. portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. 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 voted not to indict Reilly and the investigation has remained sealed. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. means that she hadnt warned him about what white people could get away There's a tenor and a tone that's creeping into a permanence, and I'm really hopeful that it doesn't. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. When Creed first premiered in 2015, the world had no idea how big it would become; after all, it was just, Rocky Balboas iconic ascent up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art out of breath and in gray joggers as Eye of the Tiger blares in the, Spoilers ahead. 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. Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. 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. 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. 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. It's not newit's just new to you. What We Know, The 8 Best Soundbars To Buy In 2023, Per Experts. 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. 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. 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 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. Daniel Hart 1. And His tow truck had hit them two months makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really although the property taxes were high. 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. 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. are gripping in everything they say. 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. 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? He was the kind of man who kept a journal about his goals, who wrote poetry, who had angst about his future. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and after 9/11, to protect his new country. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a Strong Island Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. Washington a thing to say. happened to the Ford family afterward. All Rights Reserved. This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: March 2023's Freshest Films to Watch, Vanderpump Rules: Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix Break Up After He Reportedly Cheated With Raquel Leviss, Sex/Life Season 2: Adam Demos Tops His Famous Full Frontal Moment With, Uh, Tip, New Movies on Streaming: 'Magic Mike's Last Dance' + More, 'Next In Fashion' Season 2 on Netflix: Follow the Designers on Instagram, 'Wheel of Fortune' Gets Awkward as Pat Sajak Snaps at Contestant for Grabbing Wheel: "Don't Touch That", Is 'Yellowstone' On Tonight? It creaks under the weight of the anguish it bears. Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. 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. 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. 2022 International Documentary Association.