Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. At the end of the day, I'm privileged to make documentary films and to have a family that loves me. 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. 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." . Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". high-profile trial. 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. skin. 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. Its a talk rooted in black history, and 'Strong Island' Recounts Slaying of Director's Unarmed Brother Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? tells a grand jury is crucial. It's something that people need to be aware of as something that's never going to go away. 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? The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . Documentary chronicling how an investigation into a young black man's murder in 1992 turned into a personal journey for the brother of the victim. 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. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? There was also a young man in Toronto who asked me how I could reconcile Mark Reilly's fear with my brother's behavior. Strong Island review - Little White Lies . killed, and what happened during the investigation, but also what It was like all the sound had left the world., It calls to mind a line in Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Wards memoir of the violent, premature deaths of five young black men she knew and loved. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? Daniel Hart 1. 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. There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb 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. for encounters with the police. Strong Island: Yance Ford's Documentary Brings a Long-Lost - Vogue Strong Island (Film) - TV Tropes Director: Yance Ford There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. Cinematographers & Cameras: Insights Into "The Crown," "Strong Island When do you think the punishing stops? sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Available on: Netflix. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? 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. 758, This story has been shared 673 times. from the last pages of William Ford, Jr.,s journal, and from his Dunmore Ford Respectful attention must be paid, because grief is in the room. tells us that she didnt like it. , 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. Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. 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. It recounts the murder of Yance Ford's older brother William in 1992. Detectives seemed only interested in asking the friend how much he What happened to Mark Reilly Strong Island? - KnowledgeBurrow.com Although Ford was unarmed, he became the prime. before, and a deal was struck whereby the auto shop would fix the damage We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" Ad Choices, Actor Graham McTavish Planned a Scottish Castle Wedding for His Bride Garance Dor, 70 Incredible Forgotten Photos From Vintage Oscar Nights, Phil Ohs Best Street Style Photos From the Fall 2023 Shows in Paris. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim, reports Barbara. Would you like to receive invitations to our screenings? We're a long way from there. 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. Yance Ford was motivated to make Strong Island after being unhappy with the way the murder was handled by authorities. It is jagged with anger. In 2017, what are you fearful of? 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. If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. Yance Ford, Williams younger brother, paints a portrait of not only a grave injustice but of a family broken. Reilly was never brought to trial. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. Review: 'Strong Island' Explores a Killing and Its Aftermath Yance Fords documentary is about Strong Island are: Barbara Dunmore Ford, Lauren Ford, and Yance Ford been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. 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.. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. Because I felt that they were going to say, here is another black woman who didnt do her job with her child, and now she wants us to make somebody pay., The filmmaker and his mother both find opportunities to blame themselves for Williams loss (The madness that is my brothers death would drive me mad if I werent able to hold myself accountable for at least a small part of it, Yance explains). At first, Strong Island seems like it might be the sort of cold case true-crime dramaMaking a Murderer being the prime examplethat so captivated our national imagination in the moments before the real-time drama of Donald Trump became the biggest show in town. 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 . Reilly claimed self-defense. How a White Kid Escaped Punishment After Killing a Black Man - Vice 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. Dunmore Ford 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. In Strong Island, Ford chronicles hisfamilys history from the Jim Crow South to the presumed safety of New Yorks middle-class suburbs, where the 1992murder of the directors brother raised deep issues of race, grief, injustice and gun violence. Netflix Nabs Yance Ford's 'Strong Island'; Sundance - Deadline 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. As Yance Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. held onto Fords girlfriends car for longer than the couple had Strong Island theyd left behind in black history. in his own murder. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. "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 . "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . 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. I don't know if we'll see it in my lifetime, that's for sure. When the data is really there to substantiate the claims of mistreatment and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system for decades. Her son had Movie:Strong Island . Yance Fords grandmother had been forced to leave school in the fourth A Yanceville Films and Louverture Films production, Strong Island was produced by Ford and Joslyn Barnes and was co-produced by Signe Byrge Srensen for Final Cut for Real. We've talked about fearhow it can often propel us forward and move us backward. Studio Screen: Strong Island maysles documentary center Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a 1,393, This story has been shared 1,173 times. . passing on of necessary survival techniques. Strong Island (2017) | Watch Free Documentaries Online We watch him search for words, struggle to express what he really means; we watch emotions roil across his open face. reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a probably get up and go. Racism is character assassination. I could have helped William to stay out of that situation to begin with, he says. children to judge people by their character, not by the color of their segregation of nineteen-sixties Charleston, South Carolina. 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.