History

Central Park Five

The story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park in 1989. Directed and produced by Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns, the film chronicles the Central Park Jogger case, from the perspective of the five teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.

The Central Park Five

1h 59m

THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE tells the story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. The film chronicles The Central Park Jogger case, for the first time from the perspective of these five teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.

Episodes

  • The Central Park Five: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Central Park Five

    S1 E1 - 1h 59m

    THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE tells the story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. The film chronicles The Central Park Jogger case, for the first time from the perspective of these five teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.

Extras + Features

  • Subpoena: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Subpoena

    2m 49s

    In 2003, a year after their convictions were vacated, the Central Park Five filed a civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York and the police officers and prosecutors who had worked towards their convictions. In September of 2012 the City of New York subpoenaed all the materials from the film. In February of 2013 the ruling squashed the subpoena in favor of Florentine Films.

  • Media Response: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Media Response

    1m 34s

    The media response to the Central Park Jogger case was swift and prejudiced.

  • Confessions vs. Evidence: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Confessions vs. Evidence

    9m

    After the jogger was discovered the detectives tried to fit the narrative to the five teenagers they had in custody.

  • Police Control Story: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Police Control Story

    5m 1s

    The police controlled the story to the news media and for them, all the pieces came into place. Upon closer investigation the time sequence of the jogger's movement do not add up with the police narrative. It does not matter once guilt is established, through the confessions, and they carry the case.

  • Making Of: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Making Of

    3m 9s

    Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and Dave McMahon discuss their film, Central Park Five

  • Proxy War: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Proxy War

    35s

    Jim Dwyer of the New York Times talks about the Central Park Five being caught in a proxy war.

  • Confessions: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Confessions

    6m 16s

    After hours of intense interrogation, seasoned detectives intimidate the five teenagers into falsely convicting each other.

  • Extended Look: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Extended Look

    3m 25s

    THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE, tells the story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. Directed and produced by Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns, the film chronicles the Central Park Jogger case, from the perspective of the five teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice

  • New York Wilding: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    New York Wilding

    4m 32s

    Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon discuss the term, 'wilding.'

  • The Family Business: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Family Business

    4m 23s

    Film making has become a family business for Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and Dave McMahon.

  • Death Penalty: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Death Penalty

    2m 5s

    Natalie Byfield discusses the horror of the death penalty even being talked about in the context of the Central Park Five case.

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