BBN strongly recommends watching The Central Park Five, a documentary from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns, examining one of the most notorious and racially charged criminal investigation and media stories in New York City’s history.  In 1989, five  Black and Latino boys were arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced for raping a white woman while she jogged in Central Park.  After serving 6 to 13 years in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.  It was the collective failures of  law enforcement, the criminal justice system, news media and public servants helped to drive these five young boys to prison for a crime they did not commit.

The Central Park Five opens on Friday, November 23, 2012 in NYC:

IFC Center - New York, NY (lower Manhattan)

Lincoln Plaza – New York, NY (Upper West side)

Maysles Cinema – New York, NY (Harlem)

Via THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE Official Trailer:

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 six and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, resulting in 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, an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.

More background on this story and and update on the five men:

For more film locations and showing across the nation, visit The Central Five Facebook page.