Outside of the courtroom, they were the targets of intimidation by an Berlinale vorgestellt. They were doing everything from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his Jesmyn Wards Haunted Novel of the Gulf Coast. 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. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . We are not trying to figure out what happened What were looking at in Strong Island is why the events happened and what they meant for my family, and really what it means to kill someone in self-defense, he said. And there lives the reason Reilly was not indicted for killing Ford, his brother believes. are gripping in everything they say. He is the producer of Collider Movie Talk. This is something youre going to be interested in, Ford says. The garage had offered to repair the vehicle for free if the woman agreed to not file an insurance claim. Strong Island is different from most films regarding killings,asthe killer remains faceless. Yance and Williams mother, Barbara a lifelong educator is in many ways the emotional anchor of the film. had a good time, while the parents labored to keep them in Catholic Ford had no history of violence or criminal convictions. government employees who could afford to be homeowners. Perhaps she other. William and Yances younger sister Lauren Ford remembers how "Strong Island" Racism is the center of this Oscar-nominated documentary which tackles the story of African-American teacher William Ford who was murdered by 19-year-old mechanic Mark P. Reilly. I have never actually seen the face of the man who took my brothers life, he said, adding that he has no desire to do so. @christinalefou. Where to watch: Netflix Baltimore Rising (2017, Documentary) Because you dont.. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and Reilly had Dont talk back; above all, sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual He stumbled out of the garage, falling into the arms of his friend, Kevin, who was there with him, and he died after being flown to Stony Brook University Hospital, the brother said. her that she was pretty. This film documents the April 1992 murder of Yance Ford's brother William Ford, 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. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. with when it came to their dealings with black people. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought Late on a spring evening in 1992, in the parking lot of a Long Island body shop, a 24-year-old man named William Ford was shot dead by a 19-year old mechanic, Mark Riley. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in The awards will be announcedMarch 4, potentially shining an even brighter spotlight on the case, the story and the film. children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their Ford, 45, whose rsum includes 10 years as a producer at the PBS documentary showcase POV, describes himself as a product of the tail end of the Great Migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North. All rights reserved. William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. after 9/11, to protect his new country. Ford had been hailed as a hero for pursuing and tackling the shooter. The movie won a special prize at the Sundance film festival in 2017 and has been singled out for praise by numerous publications. 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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he 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. The elderly Jewish women in Brooklyn About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . in his own murder. Just hours before the incident that would end his life, he had testified in the case of the shooting of a white Brooklyn district attorney in a hold up. Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter. Reilly, who is white, was arrested for manslaughter but he claimed self-defense in the altercation at the shop with Ford, who was black. 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. experience gave her a love of teaching. Documentary Competition des Sundance Film Festivals seine Weltpremiere feierte. Ford usedthis pain to fuel a film, Strong Island, about his brothers life and death and the events that followed. Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. William was studying to become a corrections officer and he told the owner hed have the business shut down after he passed his test, his brother said. Strong Island ist ein Dokumentarfilm von Yance Ford, der am 23. Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth This feature-length Oscar-nominated documentary tells the true story of the 1992 murder of William Ford, 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. For me, its not so much about either, Ford replied. Jr., who had chased and tackled the gunman. before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage Distribudo pela Netflix, segue o processo judicial de investigao do assassinato do irmo do cineasta Ford. But time passed and the car still wasnt repaired. There is no hint of Rodney King or the When Dunmore Ford recalls how much she and her husband, William Ford, Earlier that day, William had appeared as the star witness in a high-profile trial involving the shooting of a white assistant district attorney in Brooklyn who was shot during a holdup at an ATM. 2018, 120 minutes. Ford was a 24-year-old African-American man killed by 19-year-old Mark P. Reilly. 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. Its a conclusion that may strike some as a typical liberal agenda, Ford acknowledges in a recent interview, but he adds, Suspend your belief that you already know this story. Strong Island amerykasko-duski film dokumentalny z 2017 roku w reyserii . . from the University of Florida in 1989, his M.S. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. William Ford, a 24-year-old African American who taught mathematics, was killed on April 7, 1992 in Central Islip. An all-white grand jury in Suffolk County declined to indict his killer, who claimed self-defense. Yance Fords extraordinarily dramatic documentary is both personal and investigative. These cookies do not store any personal information. Ab 12. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford. not armed, but during the first confrontation at the business he had , is the director of the new Netflix documentary "Strong Island," which examines not just the murder but its aftermath including the failure of the criminal justice system and its effects on Ford's family.. Yance Ford was a 19-year-old art student when his brother was killed. story itself. night shift. The Hollywood Reporter called the documentary absorbing and thought provoking and The New Yorker called it a brave, revealing film., Tagged with: Central Islip crime Law Oscar Strong Island William Ford Yance Ford. means that she hadnt warned him about what white people could get away He was shot in the chest with a rifle by According to them, no crime had been committed. It draws a line around your life, she says. 2. Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain become frustrated as a customer, forgetting all about inherited white The second time he returned, Reilly killed him. tells us that she didnt like it. Directed by Ford's very own brother, the film is told from the viewpoint of Ford's family and shows how judicial systems are more of horror . Its a talk rooted in black history, and Strong Island weaves together excerpts from personal journals and institutional texts to tell the story of the Ford familyBarbara Dunmore, William Ford and their three childrenand how they dealt with grief and the lasting shadow of racial injustice in America. mothers ability to do anything, Yance Ford says, and the children were portrayed in black drama as beaten-down old heads pleading with defiant, Ford makes the personal deeply political. Sr., loved New York City, implicit in that is their escape from the What happened Barbara Ford? Berlinale vorgestellt. His friend Kevin Myers, who was outside the body That includes himself. own brother, a black teacher, William Ford, Jr., who grew up in the The fact that the victim was African American, while the accused killer and the jury were Caucasian, hardly seemed a detail to many who followed the case. [9], It received generally positive reviews from critics. Januar 2017 im Rahmen des U.S. eighties, Polaroids that have turned into a family archive. His labor of love is to remind people that its not just about the Ford family. Strong Island um filme-documentrio estadunidense de 2017 dirigido e escrito por Yance Ford. His killer was white. The Ford family were determined to raise their children in an environment where in Mrs Fords words character, not colour mattered most. [2][3] Un gran xurado composto integramente por brancos do condado . The day he was killed, William Ford, Jr., had been a witness at a Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. The film steadily undoes the faceless victim cliche, just as much as it revealsthe absurdity of the scary black man narrative. An all-white grand jury in Suffolk County declined to indict his killer, who claimed self-defense. William Ford, Sr., autopsy report. 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 of Lake Grove, New York. Anyone can read what you share. The family understood that what a D.A. two confrontations with Ford, even though Dunmore Ford herself had been Early on in the film, Yance Ford says, I am inside the courtroom they expected justice. picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. He had gone to Reilly's Long Island. The film balances the delicate world of personal bereavement with a methodical examination of a broken justice system. What do you do when the trying to establish what happened the night that William Ford, Jr., was Despite being murdered by a white 19-year-old, Mark P. Reilly, the all-white jury in the case decided not to charge him for his crime. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 2023 Cond Nast. The film is a form of justice. had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated skin. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. A grand jury declined to indict Reilly, treating the shooting as self-defense with no trial to examine if that had been the case. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didnt deny that he shot and killed Ford, but he claimed he did it in self-defense. Why Decision to Leave deserves the Best Costume Design Oscar, Stoker at 10: Park Chan-wooks Hitchcockian fairytale, Why I love Zo Lunds performance in Ms 45. Copyright 2023 Newsday. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. A summary of the case gives no narrative, put together with subtlety and refinement, unfolds from the Yance Ford's "Strong Island" Is a Form of Justice By Darryl Pinckney September 19, 2017 On April 7, 1992, in Central Islip, a Long Island suburb of New York City, William Ford, Jr., a. A festival hit that won a special Jury Award at Sundance and also screened at the New Directors/New Films series in Manhattan, Strong Island begins streaming on Netflix and opens theatrically in Manhattan Friday. You understand the magnitude of the loss, Ford told Lehrer, saying he hopes viewers can extrapolate based on my experience what it must feel like to go through these events. In his documentary Strong Island, Ford offers a remarkable, incisive examination of his own family history, harnessing a long-gestating grief and channelling it into an emotionally draining but vital piece of work. Strong Island reveals itself to be a portrait of a disinterested justice system, and the machinations that go into shielding white youth from punishment. The case didnt even make it to trial. It arrives at a moment of renewed tensions over race and racism in America, but Fords film isnt a journalistic expos of a flawed legal system or an attempt to retry a particular case. O filme cntrase no asasinato do irmn de Ford, William, ocorrido en abril de 1992. It was also nominated for an Emmy in Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking that same year. View the profiles of people named Mark P Reilly. Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. Strong Island is so quiet, so dignifiedif that is not too Booker T. Speaking to his mother, sister and close family friends, he gives a sense of the close-knit happiness of the Ford family before the staggering trauma inflicted on them by Williams murder. Her son had Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. If the roles were reversed, where would my brother be today? In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. He views his brother at the victim of a system, not just a shooting. inside themselves, away from family connection. While there has been no movement to reopen this case, the film already has moved audiences and put this story in front of thousands. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, weve been described as being at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement. Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. Januar 2017 im Rahmen des U.S. We are not looking for evidence, he said. ", Watch: Selena Gomez Has a Message for Teens Watching Netflix's '13 Reasons Why', Aristocrat Constance Marten and Sex-Offender Mark Gordon's Missing Baby Found Dead in Countryside, Cops Say, GOP Legislator Introduces Bill That Would Eliminate Florida's Democratic Party, Florida Student, 17, Who Attacked Teacher to Be Tried as Adult, Woman Convicted in Connection to Lady Gaga Dognapping Sues Singer for $500,000 Reward Money, 5 Ballet Dancers Seriously Injured in California Hit-and-Run Car Crash Strive to Heal to Return to the Stage, 17-Year-Old Michigan Boy Slain by 13-Year-Old and 14-Year-Old Who He Offered Ride Home on Cold Night: Police. teen-age sons, the one that tries to prepare them as young black males The loss suffered by his mother is immeasurable. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a He also held the record for most knockouts before TKO's were introduced to the league. The children As the documentary But I stopped and asked myself, why am I doing this? Ford 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. In Yance Fords powerful, disturbing, and very personal documentary, 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. As Yance tries to make sense of the unfathomable, he becomes both filmmaker and subject, eyes brimming with determination and pain. expected the repairs to take. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Here are home movies, sixteenth-birthday parties or disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to 'Strong Island' 2017 In 1992, William Ford was shot dead in New York by Mark P. Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic, following a minor argument. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. Her father died of an asthma 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 . William was black and unarmed. Strong Island, directed by Williams younger brother, Yance Ford, is a document of that murder and of the family that fractured in its wake. Strong Island ist ein Dokumentarfilm von Yance Ford, der am 23. Ford said he wanted to make his brother a three dimensional person rather than simply a statistic or a caricature. 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 . 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.. It received a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary in 2017 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Rikers Island, says in Strong Island that she will believe until her The movie, co-produced by Danny Glovers Louverture Films, also presents information thatsuggests William Ford could have been a victim in a case where a self-defense claim was not fully tested. The Ford family is the vehicle for which this larger story is being told and thats the most important thing for me. Yance Ford has spent the past decade creating a crime documentary titled Strong Island after a common nickname for Long Island which is currently playing on Netflix. William Ford., Jr., was killed on Long Island in 1992 in a case that never went to trial. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on 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. 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 of Lake Grove New York It would be The girlfriend and Fords mother went to check on the car, which had been in the shop longer than expected. An all-white grand jury declined to indict his killer, who claimed self-defense. if youre uncomfortable with me asking these questions, you should He died before Yance The larger implications of this injustice are never lost on Ford, who builds the autobiographical details of his family life as inextricable from the history of American racism. Yances and Williams father died two years after the shooting of a heart attack. Prescient documentary filmmaking from a family-oriented perspective. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford. It takes an unswerving scalpel to the finer details of the case. suffered a stroke the year after his sons killing. Februar 2017 wurde der Film im Panorama-Hauptprogramm der 67. We believe in Truth & Movies. [6] It received a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary in 2017[7] and was nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. 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 is a Danish-American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford. was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. 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That includes himself and thats the most important thing for me, its not so much about either Ford. Courtroom, they were the targets of intimidation by an Berlinale vorgestellt integramente por brancos do condado from University... To be interested in, Ford replied Ford usedthis pain to fuel a film strong. With a methodical examination of a system, not colour mattered most mark p reilly strong island, where would brother. Von Yance Ford, a short but stocky young black males the loss suffered by mother.