Yance Ford Quotes
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Violence against the other, and the way we otherize people out of fear, has to be examined across the board.
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I don't think I present as gender-conforming on screen, but some people need a little extra information.
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People come up and say, 'Thank you' for showing a black family loving their masculine-presenting child and for undoing the myth of black people as being rabidly homophobic.
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What little return documentary filmmakers get often comes in the form of recognition by their peers and the critics who influence doc audiences around the country.
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'Strong Island' has been a labor of love and dedication on the part of so many people, that it's just an incredible recognition to be honored. And to be the first trans director - and, I believe, the first African-American trans director - to be nominated for an Academy Award is incredibly, incredibly special to me.
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Most black families went from the South to the city. My family went from the South to the city to the suburbs because they wanted their children to have the realization of the suburban lifestyle. What does it mean that that doesn't actually protect you?
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I don't feel like a hero.
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It's important that people understand that 'Strong Island' is just as much about this claim of reasonable fear and our need to interrogate reasonable fear as it is about my family's grief.
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Everyone in the street where I grew up was given the same message: You can be anything; you can do anything. That wasn't extraordinary; that was ordinary for us. My folks didn't believe in black exceptionalism. There's nothing exceptional about 'You can have that, too' - except when it comes to justice. You can't have that.
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I will never understand how so many young women can go out in the freezing cold wearing so little clothing.
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White people get to do that all of the time. They get to engage in bad behavior, even felonious behavior, but they rarely wind up in jail. But as a black person, losing your temper can cost you your life. Or insisting on your rights can cost you your life.
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There is nothing quite as exciting as watching a master at work.
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My impression is that the Academy is really sincere about moving toward a more inclusive and representative Hollywood.
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My father just believed in my mother's ability to do anything.
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I think fear has been racialised. When you get someone who says 'I was afraid' of a big black guy, that's enough to say, 'Okay, not guilty,' or, 'No indictment.' It's persisted over generations, and it needs to stop.
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Instincts are a really important guide for any artist, but particularly filmmakers because it takes a lot to stay true to your instincts as a storyteller.
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I had a list of 10 rules when we started 'Strong Island,' and one of them was, 'Yance will never appear on camera with sync sound.'
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Grief, for me, is a moment-to-moment experience.
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'Trumbo' is conventional in its structure, mixing interviews with archival footage. What I enjoyed most about the film was its liberal use of his own personal letters to friends and family, performed dramatically by well-known actors.
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I'm incredibly proud to be the first trans director to be nominated for an Oscar.
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If my making history makes it easier for a trans kid at home somewhere to feel more at home in their skin, then I'm so excited about that.
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I hope that audiences understand that there is a precariousness to black lives in this country that we need to address, that there has always been a precariousness to black lives in this country that we need to address. In fact, our country is built on the precariousness of black lives, the disposability of black lives.
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I love marching bands.
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I worked at 'POV' for five years before I told one person about my brother.