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. Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. 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. William Ford had no record and was about to take the William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. 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. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the Mark Reilly, a young white man. 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. . Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in Ford, Jr.,s killing. "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. although the property taxes were high. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. Triangle of Sadness Ending Explained: Does Abigail Kill Yaya? makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he 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. Here are home movies, sixteenth-birthday parties or 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. What do you do when the The film is a form of justice. children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their 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. I just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. The family understood that what a D.A. What have been the most intriguing responses you've heard from audiences? 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. Strong Island 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. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. More than twenty years later, the investigating officer on the case "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . In an appropriation of true crime style, details and testimonies are shuffled around to increase curiosity and unveil late revelations, some of which are devastating. killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what Director: Yance Ford Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? real-estate developers in Central Islip were looking for black 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. Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. 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 . VICE: Watching the film again reminded me of how uniquely affecting it is. 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. Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, 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. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. A white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn had in his own murder. 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. Read more about us. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. . When I spoke with Yance by phone, he was a mix of overwhelmed and composed. 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. Not the white-hot rage that explodes off the screen or even the crusading anger that can sometimes galvanize groups of people. suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. 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. 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. sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual "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. Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. It would be an insult to Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. 2,204, This story has been shared 1,797 times. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. Yance Ford documents not just the murder but the continuing effects of the tragedy and how it tore apart his family. 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. "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. We always tried to teach you guys that you see character, not color. His work has appeared in NPR, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. There is no hint of Rodney King or the check on the car. dont run. 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. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 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. In 2017, what are you fearful of? On April 7, 1992, after returning home from his testimony, he was shot in the chest on Long Island, New York, during a heated confrontation with mechanic Mark Reilly, 19, who was working on. In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. 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? 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. A summary of the case gives no 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. 2,623, This story has been shared 2,555 times. Movie:Strong Island 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? actor Ken Curtis great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. We want to hear from you! Those are 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. And I hated that moment. Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee, This story contains heavy spoilers for Creed III. 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. Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. Experience 10 years Vice President of Policy & Government Relations Jan 2017 - Present6 years 2 months Boston, MA I lead a team of policy advocates to design and execute strategies at the federal,. The vehicle that 24-year-old William Jr. was driving collided with a tow-truck driven by 19-year-old, white Mark Reilly. Film Reviews. Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. autopsy report. 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 day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a tells a grand jury is crucial. 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. You don't like being the focus of the conversation. 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? expected the repairs to take. it cuts across class lines. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' 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. 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. 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. event that becomes a part of story. William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. 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. Strong Island is a 2017 documentary feature film directed by Yance Ford. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. 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. On Sept. 15, Netflix dropped new documentary Strong Island, . segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. 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 reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. When the data is really there to substantiate the claims of mistreatment and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system for decades. Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. 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. 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. If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. Ford observes to the camera, William Ford, Jr., became the prime suspect 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? 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.
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