Ava DuVernay Releases Teaser For Central Park Five Netflix Series ‘When They See Us’

Ava DuVernay Central Park Five

 

Ava DuVernay on Friday shared a first look at her new project for Netflix, “When They See Us,” a dramatized series centered on the infamous Central Park Five case.

 

The “13th” director tweeted a teaser for the upcoming series, set for release on the streaming giant on May 31.

 

The four-part limited series will focus on the story of five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of brutally raping Trisha Meili, a white woman, in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. 

 

Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence and a confession linked Matias Reyes, a convicted murderer and rapist, to the crime.  

 

  

“Not thugs. Not wilding. Not criminals,” DuVernay wrote on Twitter. “Not even the Central Park Five. They are Korey, Antron, Raymond, Yusef, Kevin.”

 

She continued, “They are millions of young people of color who are blamed, judged and accused on sight. May 31. A film in four parts about who they really are. WHEN THEY SEE US.”

 

DuVernay created, co-wrote and directed all four parts of “When They See Us,” according to a statement by Netflix. The stars of the series include Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash and Blair Underwood.

 

In 1989, five black and brown teen boys were wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit and branded The Central Park Five, a moniker that has followed them since that time,” DuVernay said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. “In 2019, our series gives the five men a platform to finally raise their voices and tell their full stories.”

 


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