Yance Ford is the first trans director to get an Oscar nomination

His film Strong Island is up for Best Documentary Feature and the director told 'EW' that he was well-aware of his place in history and what it meant.

Yance Ford at the 33rd Annual IDA Documentary Awards at Paramount Theatre on December 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for International Documentary Association)

Yance Ford is making history at this year’s Oscars.

Ford is the first trans director to receive an Oscar nomination. His film Strong Island is up for Best Documentary Feature and the director told EW that he was well-aware of his place in history and what it meant.

“I think that everybody out there should know that there is a generation of trans directors who are coming for their Oscars,” Ford told EW. “So this might be the first, but it certainly won’t be the last.”

Ford and his partner, Amanda, posted video of their reaction to the Oscar nomination on Twitter, and it’s the purest expression of elation ever.

“I think that there was a split second where the card popped up slightly before the hosts read the name and so my partner and I were already screaming on the couch when we saw the name of the film and I was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait! Did they actually say Strong Island?’” Ford later recalled.

A film on his brother’s murder

Strong Island is a deeply personal project for the director, because it tells the story of his brother’s death.

William Ford was shot in April of 1992, and as Ford showed in his documentary, “The police had turned my brother into the prime suspect in his own murder.”

Now, this story of injustice has received major acclaim at the Oscars.

“The very exciting thing for me when I think about history is that this film is a correction to the historical record of my brother’s life,” Ford told EW.

“And if this nomination helps to magnify that and if by making history I helped to magnify that, then… it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.”

In addition to the nod to Strong Island, A Fantastic Woman, starring trans actor Daniela Vega, got a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

We’re glad to see the awards season featuring more diverse voices. Hopefully, this will start a long-lasting trend.