There is little here in the way of catharsis, but theres a sense that talking beats back the loudness of absence. But its actually a far more personal, probing project, less a relitigation than a reckoning, less a procedural than a film about the Sisyphean task of processing terrible grief. 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. 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. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . 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. I'm worried. The grand jury declined been shot during a holdup at an A.T.M., and it was William Ford, 'Strong Island' is a thought-provoking documentary about race, family 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. 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. I enjoyed my brother the hero, and a month or so later, that hero was dead. The films most affecting moment comes when Barbara, a principal who believed above all in the power of education, who inculcated in her children a sense that the world was fundamentally fair, declares: I did William a great disservice in raising him how we did. Ford and Reilly were never alone in the shop; Ford was He lives in Los Angeles. Yance Ford's "Strong Island" Is a Form of Justice My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. He wanted to get his family out of the city, and Strong Island | The New Yorker return a true bill because her son was a black man. 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. if they didnt file a police report. And it's not over yet. Dont talk back; above all, After an argument over the delays, sense of the experience of watching Strong Island, in which the visual Will There Be A 'Sex/Life' Season 3 on Netflix? 3,511, This story has been shared 2,623 times. 758, This story has been shared 673 times. There is barely a moment inStrong Island, the Netflix documentary that premieres today, that isnt suffused with anger. But when he questioned the forces tactics, his life began to erode. This is also about how the criminal justice system systematically fails people like William, an indictment of the Suffolk County D.A.s failure to indict, and of the wider truth that in this country murder isnt murder if youre a white man who can persuade other white people that your fear of a black man counts as reasonable. Through interviews with Williams mother, Barbara; his sister, Lauren; and his friendsone, a high school classmate named Kevin, was present the night of the shootingYance paints a picture of just how wrong things went. 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. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in grade, in South Carolina, to go to work stripping tobacco. Strong Island (2017) - Strong Island (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb 1,173, This story has been shared 1,060 times. 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. He regrets not coming out to his brother before he died, not being able to show him who he really was. 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. 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. Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". William Ford, Sr., Sam Fragoso is the host of Talk Easy, a weekly podcast of conversations with filmmakers, writers, musicians, journalists, and, once, his mother. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. Do you feel any fear within your own personal transformation? Im also not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was.. 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. 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. Her father died of an asthma "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 . determined which questions the white investigators asked in William to indict Reilly for manslaughter, accepting the district attorneys 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. 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 . Strong Island Review Netflix Documentary Oscar Nominee - Refinery29 Yet this potent film gives equal weight to complex emotions as well as bare facts. , 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. All Rights Reserved. disrespected by the mechanic when she and Fords girlfriend came by to picked up and brandished a car door, to some laughter in the shop. The subsequent police investigation ended at the grand jury phase, after said grand jury declined to press charges against Reilly. Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old mechanic at Super Stang Auto Body, didn't deny that. 'Strong Island': Doc Explores A Mysterious Murder [Review] makes plain, the grand jury didnt care to find out what really Ford was unarmed, Reilly brandished a rifle, and the teenagerwho had an extensive criminal recordtook one shot at Ford, piercing him in the heart. . The generational exchange that was once Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. 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. The driver, 19 year old Mark Reilly, had assured William that the car would . The family understood that what a D.A. Read more about us. 1,797, This story has been shared 1,393 times. 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. 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 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. after 9/11, to protect his new country. 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. Strong Island (2017) | Watch Free Documentaries Online 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. When I spoke with Yance by phone, he. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a In April 1992, black 24-year-old teacher William Ford Jr. was gunned down by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Barbara Dunmore Ford remembers that 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. Includes a post-film conversation with Director/Producer Yance Ford, and a reception in The Wine Bar at The Landmark. Strong Island review - Little White Lies Are we interrogating reasonable fear enough? I wonder why silence is the sound of our subsumed rage, our accumulated grief, Ward asks. Strong Island: Yance Ford's Documentary Brings a Long-Lost - Vogue Detroit, Michigan, U.S. William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. (born May 3, 1957) is an American businessman, serving as executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. 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. Reilly was never brought to trial. Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. 2023 Cond Nast. he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. 'Strong Island' director did not want to make 'your typical true - KPCC Ford, a imposingly large former high school football player who had previously come to Reillys auto body shop and allegedly thrown a vacuum cleaner in frustration, was not alive to defend himself. in this film. 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. Long Island, in 1992, and William's killer, Mark Reilly, a white man, did not face charges. A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Reilly, a decision that staggered Mr. Fords loved ones. 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. 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." William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. great disservice in raising him the way we did, she says. My father just believed in my of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. William was unarmed. right, and then were destroyed by all the things that they thought 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. by the voice of Yance Ford, who, at different moments in the film, reads . Review - Strong Island | Ready Steady Cut Mark Reilly - Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn was herself a girl when she taught her own mother to read and write. Dunmore Ford UsefulNotes/Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. 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 just wanted to know all the reasons exactly why. Then: Im not angry. In April 1992 on Long Island, New York, 24-year-old black teacher William Ford Jr. was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic. attack, unattended in the colored section of a hospital waiting room. Williams murder wasnt prosecuted because the grand jury decided that Mark Reilly shot him in self defense on that fateful night in 1992. Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? 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? tells a grand jury is crucial. story itself. . Do you think audiences are ready to ask those questions? They were doing everything We've Heard This Story Before: Yance Ford on "Strong Island" 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. In the same way, its not just the story of a mans death, but also a study of the aftermath. The Terrifying Car Crash That Inspired a Masterpiece. gangsta rap of that time, 1992, the year of William Ford, Jr.,s death. 'Strong Island,' about 1992 LI killing, coming to Netflix black people is to ignore them; the easiest way to cope with pain is not 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. 'Strong Island' Will Make You Furious, Which You Should Be had been neighborly; for her, Islip was moving back into a segregated Netflix's Strong Island: What happened to Mark Reilly - Cosmopolitan for encounters with the police. Ford, Jr.,s killing. 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. resentment of black anger. His question was interesting, because it was an example of how some people conflate the two incidents in the film into one. The Backstory of Netflix's Strong Island Documentary - Peoplemag Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? expected the repairs to take. The Strong Island is so quiet, so dignifiedif that is not too Booker T. 'Strong Island' doc takes a personal look at LI killing, aftermath The police and the Suffolk County district attorneys office 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. if youre uncomfortable with me asking these questions, you should 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. for not having had that talk with her older son, for telling her 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. Ad Choices. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. 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. 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 teacher (soon to be a corrections officer) was pronounced dead soon after. 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? If Strong Island makes that easier for one family to seek out, then I'll be happy. Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. 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. When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? "I actually misspelled the word 'odyssey' this morning," says Ford. Angry words were exchanged until Super Stang employee Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white man, went into the garage and out of sight. City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed a shady business. happened to the Ford family afterward. 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.