The sounds of birds, the sound of the sea crawling onto the sand. Just like everything we try to do with Strong Island. It would be too simplistic to call it brave. 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. The film presents intense, sometimes uncomfortable to-camera testimony, especially from Yance himself. We depend on your memberships and donations. strong island message Proudly independent, our ethos is to quite simply be the best resource to promote, showcase and inform people about Portsmouth and Southsea’s arts & cultural scene. All Rights Reserved. One of the best such articles was posted in August 2018: Sex, Steroids, And Arnold: The Story […] We want to comfort him through the screen. 833 Words4 Pages. The first thing that hit me was the sound. If we can’t bear to be exposed to racism, and the ways in which it’s structurally enshrined in the US justice system and experienced every day in the tiniest ways, he invites us to walk out and stay in a bubble. Documentary Films, True Crime Documentaries, Social & Cultural Docs, … When filmmaker Yance Ford investigates the 1992 murder of a young black man, it becomes an achingly personal journey since the victim, 24-year-old William Ford Jr., was the filmmaker's brother. I hope that helps give a little insight in to what we do and how we do it. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. 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. All 15 pupils of the grade 10a had miraculously survived the crash. 827 Words4 Pages. These ideas have mainly been displayed through the character development of several characters, dialogue, symbolism, lighting and camera techniques. Descriptive Essay On An Island. January 23, 2017. Last […] It works. “Strong Island” manages to mourn the loss of an innocent man and celebrate his memory at once; in the gap between those two sentiments, it finds … Yance Ford’s extraordinary documentary on the murder of his brother is part journalistic examination, part devastating essay on grief for one black US family, Last modified on Mon 19 Jun 2017 11.57 BST. William was unarmed. Ford demands our attention, even when he or his family admit to being less than perfect, or to laying out truths audiences might find difficult and complex. Screen Slate is a guide to moving image culture. The excellence of Strong Island is that it captures a family dynamic and intensity that is normally hard to depict. 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. “Strong Island” is a powerful indictment on a legal and social system that continues to fail the Black American community. Though more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high school or college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure: Paragraph 1: Introduction Paragraph 2: Body 1 Paragraph 3: Body 2 Paragraph 4: Body 3 Paragraph 5: Conclusion Though it may seem formulaic – and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to make it easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essa… Despite clear evidence indicating who had killed William, a grand jury decided there was no case to answer. I felt million grains of sand underneath my feet and the cool breeze against my face. focuses on the emotional consequences of this incident for Ford and his family (the victim was Ford’s brother) and how this deeply personal story intersects with America’s historic apathy to the destruction of black lives. The anguished gaze and furious composure of bereaved sibling Yance Ford makes his film, Strong Island, a deeply personal essay on grief.Two decades after the fatal shooting of his brother, the restraint he employs in telling his family’s quest for justice leaves its mark. Ellis Island was 'the door to America' which was opened on January 1st, 1892. Strong Island: Conclusion. Ford's mother (a captivating interview subject) was a teacher who created a school up near Riker's Island to help ex-con women complete their education. Strong Island (2017) Plot. Strong Island is so supreme in its presentation that it immediately grabs your attention and never lets go. This provocation is brilliant, and typical of a documentary that works both as a reality check for conservatives and a complacency check for liberals. Showing all 2 items Jump to: Summaries (2) Summaries. The documentary builds, out of an outlet for discussing the tragedy of one family, into an emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically complex work of essay … Growing up in Long Island, New York, director Yance Ford and his family lived a pleasant suburban life. 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. Though this is his film, he’s interrogated by his own camera, questions his own answers, doubts himself, and even gets irritated at being forced to admit his own failings. Ford uncovers a clarity of some sort, but it takes him into darkness – we feel his sinking feeling when he discovers that the blame he’d apportioned himself over the decades is, sadly, based in some reality. I can watch “Strong Island” (2017), look into the eyes of William Ford Jr.’s family members, listen to their stories, and hear the emotion in their voice—and I won’t understand. The documentary won’t bring William Ford back, and it may give Yance Ford some catharsis, but more importantly it could and should lead to greater justice and empowerment. Available to download. The anatomy of the murder of a black man in America is sadly a film format we’ve become accustomed to. The indifference shown to her at the grand jury, and her treatment by the police, as if she were the mother of a criminal rather than a victim, are repeated more than once. Jeffay’s essay “‘Flat Out Fucking Formalism’: Strong Island as Trans-of-Color Critique” will be published in our Winter Issue. For Free High Quality Without Registration Y ance Ford’s Strong Island unspools with a procedural-like seriousness as it investigates the 1992 killing of the filmmaker’s older brother, William Ford Jr., a 24-yeard-old African-American teacher and police officer-in-training who was shot by a white auto-mechanic while unarmed. Ford warns us at the start that if we’re worried about being uncomfortable about the killing of a black man, we should leave the cinema. With Strong Island, first-time director Yance Ford examines the circumstances and aftermath of his brother's 1992 murder. 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. Strong Island exists to remind us that for every case, for every statistic on the news, for ever murder we research, there is a hole that echoes forever in the affected communities, in the family of the victim. Ford's parents moved to New York City as newlyweds, escaping the Jim Crow South. After a mass exodus of editors and writers, the (mostly) sports site Deadspin.com folded in 2019, only to be resurrected a few months later. 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. Told in a non-linear fashion, "Strong Island" is a portrait of upward mobility revealing a trap hidden underneath. The Island (based on Lord of the Flies) Having crashed onto this unknown island, survival seemed almost inevitable, especially after the deaths of the pilot and our English teacher Mrs. Ammon. Be it past, present or future we’ll do our best to keep you up to date with photos, videos, interviews and features about the city and it's people. For The Barbell’s first interview, I turned to a friend of nearly 20 years, the living legend, four-time Mr. Olympia, six-time Mr. Olympia runner-up, and three-time Arnold Classic champ, Jay Cutler. Ford can’t remain an impassive observer and there’s a brilliant dissonance between the attempted objectivity of his phone calls to the major players 20 years later, and his angry, sad reactions to what they say. Taken together, their personal essay films—Ford's Strong Island, Olson's The Royal Road and Livingston's work-in-progress, Earth Camp One—reflect many of the formal choices that distinguish Renais' film. Strong Island review – an authentic, painful journey into injustice Yance Ford’s extraordinary documentary on the murder of his brother is part journalistic examination, part devastating essay … Immigrants came here from their countries to stay in ours. It’s taken for granted that when William Ford was murdered, the police and courts cared very little. Unlike a typical investigative doc, we feel deeply the burden of the storyteller, who tries to make sense of a personal tragedy and in doing so exposes a greater pain for us all to connect with. There’s something different about Strong Island, however, a film characterised by raw emotion and calm anger, which must surely be considered one of the finest documentaries of 2017 already. 107 minutes. We chatted by phone, but most of our previous conversations were face-to-face in gyms, restaurants, and backstage at the most prestigious bodybuilding contests. He insisted on concentration camp inmate and poet Jean Cayrol as the author of the narration. ( 2017-09-15) Running time. When 24-year-old William Ford, Jr. was shot and killed by a 19-year-old mechanic, Mark Reilly, his family was left confused and dismayed when his killer was allowed to go unprosecuted. For all her high standards and the race-blind teaching of her children, she angrily laments the pointlessness of it all, when she is still disrespectfully labelled a black parent who couldn’t control their child. is in the midst of a deep and unresolved crisis over racial politics. The Island is a 2005 science fiction dystopian film, directed by Michael Bay that contains many different strong ideas. But their world was turned upside down when brother William Jr was shot dead at a local garage after a petty argument. 5 out of 5 stars (276) $ 24.99. Ellis Island. She missed the layed back quite life of the Caribbean that was replaced with the bustling noisy city. They can also offer opinions and ideas too on where we go right and where we go wrong. © Screen Slate 2010-2021. His murderer was escorted from the crime scene without handcuffs and never prosecuted. It feels authentic, unrehearsed and painful. Perhaps in a different year, the story would have just been that: a personal account. ( 2017-01-23) (Sundance Film Festival) September 15, 2017. Read more about us. 1348 Words | 6 Pages. With Yance Ford’s “Strong Island,” a powerful and deeply personal film about the murder of Ford’s brother, he became the first transgender director of an Oscar-nominated film. Product/Service. When the film premiered at Sundance in 2017, audiences were presented with a personal account of how Ford’s family coped with the tragic loss of William Ford in 1992. Strong Island movie reviews & Metacritic score: In April 1992, on Long Island NY, William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19 year-old mechanic. Yance Ford’s extraordinary ten-years-in-the-making documentary In one of these close-ups, towards the beginning of the film, Ford draws a clear line for his audience: “If you’re 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. On rare occasions, it’s covered bodybuilding, strength, and fitness topics. Blimey, apologies for the essay. It was a major immigration station for the United States from 1892 to 1943. Moreover, the tantalizing scent of the washed-up waves, coconut, and pineapple are all mixed into one. Strong Island This document is relevant to analyzing the effects of Japan's Meiji Restoration because it shows that as a result of the Meiji Restoration, Japan grew to become a major superpower. Deadspin is not dead. The Island. Strong Island Watch Hit Series & Shows from Anywhere. Time was … Ford family photograph from Strong Island. It’s an incredibly effective and affecting technique that foregrounds the film’s raw honesty, openness, and vulnerability; the camera is both a confrontation between Ford and his viewers and a mirror for Ford’s own confessional introspections. Genres. We can’t look away from him. Families are complicated, alternately joyful and painful, even without a tragic situation like this one. Ford excels, and shows us why we should be angry at America’s indifference to dead black men. But that is its strength: audiences can relate on a personal or a political level. he anatomy of the murder of a black man in America is sadly a film format we’ve become accustomed to. Watch offline. Facebook is showing information to help you better understand the purpose of a Page. Long Island Strong Shirt, Long Island Love Shirt, Long Island Shirt, Long Island Strong, Long Island Tee, Long Island Heart, Love LI FireIslandDesigns. Island Man Essay Island man was written by Grace Nichols, her inspiration for the poem came from her own experience. A black male body counted for nothing, especially in effectively segregated 1990s Long Island. Yance Ford is harnessing the power of the gaze in this documentary to make his own memory, his personal journey, and his family’s grief readily accessible to everyone. Well-educated and close to one another, Yance [who at that time identified as female], his brother, sister, and devoted parents looked out for one another. It would be too simplistic to call it brave. This is interwoven with the history of Ford’s 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. There is a hole where a loved one was, and now is not, and will never again be. There’s something different about Strong Island, however, a film characterised by raw emotion and calm anger, which must surely be considered one of the finest documentaries of 2017 already. It … An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. We will go wrong now and again, that’s just life. Grace Nichols was born in Georgetown Guyana and in 1977 she imagrated to the UK. 16 likes. Of Strong Island _ Nino. You simply can’t stop watching, listening, empathizing. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. Strong Island (Trailer) More Details. One moment Strong Island is an investigation, the next a personal essay in grief: the combination is a complicated form of documentary few could pull off. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford. 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