Ava DuVernay is re-teaming with Netflix. Her first collaboration with the streaming giant led to Oscar-nominated doc “13th,” an investigation of the connection between slavery and mass-incarceration in the U.S. Her next project will see her tackling another story involving racism and the criminal justice system. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she’s signed on to write and direct a five-part miniseries about the Central Park Five, a group of five young black men who were wrongfully convicted of raping jogger Trisha Meili in Central Park in 1989.
“I had an extraordinary experience working with Netflix on ‘13th’ and am overjoyed to continue this exploration of the criminal justice system as a narrative project with Cindy Holland and the team there,” said DuVernay. “The story of the men known as Central Park Five has riveted me for more than two decades. In their journey, we witness five innocent young men of color who were met with injustice at every turn — from coerced confessions to unjust incarceration to public calls for their execution by the man who would go on to be the President of the United States.”
“Donald Trump was one of the most vocal during the Central Park Five witch hunt,” THR contextualizes. “He spent a reported $85,000 on full-page ads in the city’s major daily newspapers that called for New York to reinstate the death penalty. Even though evidence has since vindicated the five young men, Trump has referred to them guilty as recently as 2016.”
Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — the so-called “Central Park Five” — were finally freed in 2014 after spending more than two decades behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit. DNA evidence ultimately proved that they weren’t the perpetrators.
“This is one of the most talked-about cases of our time and Ava’s passionate vision and masterful direction will bring the human stories behind the headlines to life in this series,” commented Netflix’s Cindy Holland. “After powerfully reframing the public conversation about criminality and injustice in ‘13th,’ Ava now turns a new lens to a case that exposes deep flaws in our criminal justice system.”
Ken Burns directed a critically acclaimed doc about the case in 2012.
Spanning from 1989 to 2014, the new miniseries “will offer a breakdown of how the criminal justice system handled each phase of the infamous case, each part focusing on one of the five Harlem teenagers,” THR details.
The project’s producers include DuVernay, frequent collaborator Oprah Winfrey and her Harpo Films, and Jane Rosenthal of Tribeca Productions.
The second season of DuVernay’s OWN family drama “Queen Sugar” debuted a few weeks ago. As was the case with the debut season, every episode will be directed by a woman.
The “Selma” director recently made The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful People in Entertainment List. When asked who she’d want to switch jobs with in Hollywood for a day, DuVernay said, “[Netflix’s] Ted Sarandos. I’d like to know how it feels to be the industry’s biggest disruptor and have those deep pockets too. I’d make it a shopping day.”
DuVernay’s herstory-making next feature, “A Wrinkle in Time,” is set to bow March 9, 2018.
