The Central Park Five
“A Moving and Powerful Documentary Film”
The
Central Park Five (2012)
Order a copy of The Central Park Five on DVD
Writen and
Directed by:
Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
Documentary, Unrated, 119 min
Filming Locations: New York City
Production Compay Florentine Films
Distributors: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS, USA, TV), Sundance Selects
(USA, Theatrical), PBS International (Non-USA, all media)
Cast:
Angela Black, Calvin O. Butts III Natalie Byfield, David Dinkins, Jim Dwyer,
Ronald Gold, LynNell Hancock, Michael Joseph, Saul Kassin, Ed Koch, Antron
McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Sr., Raymond
Santana.
Synopsis:
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and
later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park.
They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed
that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being
overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and
racial tension, THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE tells the story of that horrific
crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational
stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this
miscarriage of justice.
Director Ken Burns participated in a panel discussion with his daughter Sarah Burns, and
son-in-law David McMahon for their new documentary "The Central Park 5″ which screened here at the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival.
On Friday April 20th, 2012, Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar interviewed Sarah Burns, author of
The
Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding. Burns was also putting the finishing touches on a film based on the book which
was recently accepted at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Martina Steiner recorded this interview.
The
Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Click
to buy via Amazon
by Sarah Burns
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Knopf (May 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307266141
ISBN-13: 978-0307266149
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
A riveting, in-depth account of one of New York City’s most notorious crimes.
On April 20, 1989, the body of a woman is discovered in Central Park, her skull so badly smashed that nearly 80 percent of her blood has spilled onto the ground. Within days, five black and Latino teenagers confess to her rape and beating. In a city where urban crime is at a high and violence is frequent, the ensuing media frenzy and hysterical public reaction is extraordinary. The young men are tried as adults and convicted of rape, despite the fact that the teens quickly recant their inconsistent and inaccurate confessions and that no DNA tests or eyewitness accounts tie any of them to the victim. They serve their complete sentences before another man, serial rapist Matias Reyes, confesses to the crime and is connected to it by DNA testing.
Intertwining the stories of these five young men, the police officers, the district attorneys, the victim, and Matias Reyes, Sarah Burns unravels the forces that made both the crime and its prosecution possible. Most dramatically, she gives us a portrait of a city already beset by violence and deepening rifts between races and classes, whose law enforcement, government, social institutions, and media were undermining the very rights of the individuals they were designed to safeguard and protect.
Four of the Central Park Five in November
2012 (l to r)
Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana) Photo Credit
Troy Johnson, AALBC.com
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