Strong Island. 2017. USA. Directed by Yance Ford. DCP. 107 min.
“A haunting investigation into the murder of a young black man in 1992, Yance Ford’s Strong Island is achingly personal—the victim, 24-year-old William Ford Jr., was the filmmaker’s brother. Ford powerfully renders the specter of his brother’s death and its devastating effect on his family, and uses the tools of cinema to carefully examine the injustice perpetrated when Ford’s killer, a 19-year-old white man, was not indicted by an all-white jury. As a work of memoir and true crime, Strong Island tells one of the most remarkable stories in recent documentary; as a political artwork, its resonance is profound” (New Directors/New Films screening notes). Courtesy of Cinetic Media.