Ava DuVernay Is Bringing The Story Of The Central Park Five To Netflix In ‘When They See Us’

Director Ava DuVernay released the trailer for her latest project ‘When They See Us,’ a four-part Netflix series referencing the true story of five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a female jogger in 1989. Her announcement via Twitter stated, “Not thugs. Not wilding. Not criminals. Not even the Central Park Five. They are Korey, Antron, Raymond, Yusef, Kevin. 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.”

The series, which stars Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Blair Underwood, and Christopher Jackson, is also executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Robert DeNiro. The story will span 25 years, beginning when Anton McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise were first questioned by police regarding the rape that took place at #CentralPark. According to Netflix, it will underscore the men’s exoneration in 2002 and the settlement they reached with New York City in 2014.

The young men were dubbed the “Central Park Five,” by the media but DuVernay said she was intentional about not referring to them by that moniker for the show’s title. “Korey, Anton, Raymond, Kevin, and Yusef also tell the story of many young people of color unjustly ensnared in the criminal justice system,” DuVernay said in a statement. “We wanted to reflect this perspective in our title, embracing the humanity of the men and not their politicized moniker.”

‘When They See Us’ is set to be released May 31st on Netflix.