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.

Directed by
KEN BURNS, DAVID McMAHON and SARAH BURNS

Written by
SARAH BURNS & DAVID McMAHON & KEN BURNS

Produced by
DAVID McMAHON, SARAH BURNS and KEN BURNS

Edited by
MICHAEL LEVINE

Cinematography by
BUDDY SQUIRES with ANTHONY SAVINI

Original Music by
DOUG WAMBLE

Production Coordinator
STEPHANIE JENKINS

Technical Director
DAVE MAST

Program Advisors
PAUL BARNES
SARAH BOTSTEIN
JULIE BURNS
DAYTON DUNCAN
JULIE DUNFEY
PETER MILLER
LYNN NOVICK
GEOFFREY C. WARD

Executive Producer
KEN BURNS

Funding provided by
Atlantic Philanthropies
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Better Angels Society, including Bobby and Polly Stein

Learn more about The Central Park Five