Yance Ford

{{Infobox person

| name = Yance Ford

| image = File:0002-Strong Island-Kimberly Cecchini-Kimberly Cecchini - fullsizeoutput 3f0.jpg

| caption = Yance Ford at the 2017 Montclair Film Festival

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

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| alma_mater = Hamilton College

| occupation = Director, film producer

}}

Yance Ford ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|æ|n|s|i}}) is an African-American transgender producer and director.{{cite web|url=http://1world1family.me/conversation-yance-ford-strong-island-film/ |title=Yance Ford on Family Photographs in His Film "Strong Island" |publisher=1World1Family.me |date=September 6, 2017 |access-date=2018-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/24/strong_island_trans_filmmaker_yance_ford|title="Strong Island": Trans Filmmaker Yance Ford Searches for Justice After His Brother's Racist Murder|publisher=DEMOCRACY NOW! |date=January 24, 2018 |access-date=2018-01-24}}

Life and career

Ford graduated from Hamilton College in 1994.

Beginning in 2002 he worked as a series producer at PBS for ten years.{{cite web|url=https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/yance-ford-94-screens-strong-island|title=Yance Ford '94 Screens "Strong Island"|last=Bloom |first=Ryan |publisher=Hamilton |date= September 25, 2017 |access-date=2018-01-24}}{{cite web |url=http://macdow.convio.net/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5141 |title=Q&A with 2012 Fledging Fund Fellow and Documentary Filmmaker Yance Ford |last=Martin |first=John |publisher=MacDowell |date=March 16, 2012 |access-date=2018-01-24 |archive-date=2018-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125020203/http://macdow.convio.net/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5141 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://filmmakermagazine.com/people/yance-ford/#.Wmi14tQrK9I|title=Yance Ford; 25 NEW FACES OF INDEPENDENT FILM|date=20 July 2011|publisher=FILMMAKER |access-date=2018-01-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.queer-art.org/yance-ford/ |title=QUEER ART PRIZE 2017 RECENT WORK FINALIST STRONG ISLAND (2017) BY YANCE FORD|publisher=QUEER ART |access-date=2018-01-24}}

In 2011 he was named one of Filmmaker magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film. He also received the 2011–2012 Fledgling Fund Fellowship at MacDowell.

In 2017 he was #97 on The Root 100, an "annual list of the most influential African Americans, ages 25 to 45."{{cite web|url=http://interactives.theroot.com/root-100-2017/ |title=The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans 2017 | TheRoot.com |publisher=Interactives.theroot.com |access-date=2018-01-24}}

''Strong Island'' and other works

In 2018, he and Joslyn Barnes were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2018 2018|Oscars.org][https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I7AvDBcBBcI "Icarus" wins Best Documentary Feature - Oscars on YouTube] for producing and directing Strong Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/film/2018/1/23/yance-ford-becomes-first-transgender-director-oscar-nominated-film|title=Yance Ford Becomes First Transgender Director of an Oscar-Nominated Film|last= Reynolds |first=Daniel |work=The Advocate |date=January 23, 2018 |access-date=2018-01-24}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Long-Island-Man-Breaks-Record-as-First-Transgender-Oscar-Nominee-470800143.html|title='Strong Island' Director From LI Makes Oscars History|author1=Jummy Olabanji |author2= Sander Siegel |newspaper=NBC New York | date=January 23, 2018 |access-date=2018-01-24}} As such, he became the first openly transgender man to be nominated for any Academy Award, and the first openly transgender director to be nominated for any Academy Award.{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/01/a-round-up-of-this-years-history-making-firsts.html|title=The 2018 Oscar Nominees Include a Number of Historic Firsts|first=Rachel|last=Withers|publisher=Slate |date= January 23, 2018 |access-date=2018-01-24}} Also in 2018, he and Barnes were awarded an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for producing Strong Island, which made him the first openly transgender man and the first black openly transgender person to win an Emmy award, as well as the first openly transgender filmmaker to win a Creative Arts Emmy also for{{cite web|url=https://www.intomore.com/culture/strong-island-director-becomes-first-black-trans-emmy-winner |title=INTO: A Digital Magazine for The Modern Queer World |date=10 September 2018 |publisher=Intomore.com |access-date=2018-09-17}}{{cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2018/exceptional-merit-in-documentary-filmmaking |title=Nominees/Winners | Television Academy |publisher=Emmys.com |access-date=2018-07-16}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/strong-island-yance-ford-netflix-creative-arts-emmys-lgbtq-exceptional-merit-in-documetnary-filmmaking-1202460943/|title='Strong Island's Yance Ford Makes History As First Openly Trans Filmmaker To Win At Creative Arts Emmys|author1= Dino-Ray Ramos | date=September 9, 2018 |access-date=2018-09-09}} Strong Island about the murder of his brother William Ford, which occurred in 1992.

He has also received a Creative Capital Award, and a Sundance Documentary Film Program Fellowship.

Ford directed an episode of the 2020 documentary series, Trial By Media, titled "Blago!", about the media furor over the court case against Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich.

In 2024 Ford released the documentary film Power, a Netflix original film, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.sundance.org/blogs/power-provokes-vital-questions-about-the-role-of-police/|publisher=Sundance|accessdate=2025-02-11|title=Power provokes vital questions about the role of police}}