Pulling 25 years of grief and racial injustice into delicate, soft focus is the genius of American filmmaker Yance Ford, whose Strong Island – a powerful cinematic memoir of the murder of his brother – delivers a fierce emotional punch, gloved with the tender intimacy of a family portrait.
Where the typical angry filmmaker might have spun a blunt, harsh retelling of how a young black mathematics teacher, William Ford Jr, 24, was gunned down by a white mechanic, Mark Reilly, 19, in April 1992 on Long Island – this original Netflix documentary, which streams on Friday, does exactly the opposite. And brilliantly so.
Ford lovingly holds family photos up to the camera and lets us rummage through his precious memories like we're kin around the kitchen table.
"I'm not willing to accept that someone else gets to say who William was," says Ford, who was numbered among Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2011, and who cut his teeth for more than a decade as a producer of the acclaimed PBS showcase POV.
Even after a quarter-century, the tears that stream down his cheeks in moving close-ups still burn with his passion to tell the truth about what happened to his unarmed brother who, astoundingly, became the prime suspect in his own murder after his killer's acquittal.
His haunting soft voice speaks from his dead brother's point of view: "You stumble out of the garage and into the yard, where you fall. You lie on the ground, bullet through your heart, and know you will never see your sisters again, your mother, your father .... That was the beginning.
"You do not know your killer will make you out to be a monster.
"You do not realise that there will be no trial. You don't know that 23 white people (on the grand jury) will decide no crime has even been committed."
A Special Jury Award winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival and lavishly praised by critics around the globe, Strong Island chronicles the arc of the Ford family – mother Barbara Dunmore, father William Ford and their three children – across their personal history, geography and tragedy, from the racial isolation of the Jim Crow South to the fresh promise of New York City, where the presumed safety of the middle-class suburbs was cruelly shattered by this senseless tragedy. One very familiar face on board with Ford as executive producer is actor Danny Glover, whose acting career over three decades in Hollywood includes hits such as Places in the Heart, The Color Purple and the Lethal Weapon series.
His involvement in Strong Island reflects his passionate advocacy on behalf of economic and social justice causes. Off-screen, Glover is also a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Amnesty International.
The Fords were not a family asking for trouble; they kept a low profile, so to speak.
"Our blackness and how to survive being black in America is something that our parents instilled in us extraordinarily well," recalls Ford, still shaken by the ripples of 1992.
As she relives her darkest days for the camera, an expression of lingering disbelief still tightens the face of Ford's elderly mother Barbara: "It was like all the sound left the world."
She recalls her attempts to speak with police at the scene, saying: "I said to the officer, 'Where is my son? I want to be with my son.' I did not feel that we were received as parents of a victim. "No officer spoke to me. No officer would look at me." Later, she tells Ford: "Your father said to me, 'These are vicious people. Your son was shot down like a dog.'"
Strong's cinematic exploratory documentary expertly peels through the layers of self, family and society to reach to the core of his key inquiry: "My brother was not armed, not violent in no way. Is his death justifiable?"
Yance recently told People magazine. "It is important to distinguish that Strong Island is not a film that is seeking to uncover evidence of guilt or that is objecting to a guilty or not-guilty verdict.
"This film is questioning if it was reasonable to decide there was no probable cause to move forward to trial. My argument is: 'Of course there was probable cause, because we know how low the bar for probable cause really is'."
He adds: "We have to deal with the way that race influences our criminal justice system. My brother William wasn't perfect but he was human, and his humanity is the thing that was denied him from the beginning of the process through the end."
Strong Island is available on Netflix from Saturday
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The Limehouse Golem: Folklore and murder mix with a twist in Victorian London
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T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'
Rating: 3/5
Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro
Writers: Walter Mosley
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali
Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000
Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
RESULTS
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ovasave%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Majd%20Abu%20Zant%20and%20Torkia%20Mahloul%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Healthtech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Three%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24400%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
