February 4, 2020
Bryn Mawr, PA – February 4, 2020 – Author and documentarian Sarah Burns brings her award-winning film The Central Park Five to Bryn Mawr Film Institute for a special benefit screening for the PA Innocence Project. After the film, Nilam Sanghvi, Legal Director at the PA Innocence Project, will join director Burns in conversation.
Burns made this gripping documentary with her father Ken Burns and husband David McMahon based on her book, The Central Park Five: The Untold Story Behind One of New York City’s Most Infamous Crimes, which will be for sale at BMFI from Main Point Books. The book and documentary chronicle the now infamous miscarriage of justice committed against five Harlem teens after they were coerced into confessing to a crime they did not commit. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay adapted this devastating case for her Emmy Award-winning limited series, When They See Us, in 2019.
The Central Park Five screens on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, at 7:00 pm at Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Tickets are $12.50 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students, and $8.00 for BMFI members. All proceeds from this screening will benefit the PA Innocence Project. Tickets are available at the Box Office during operating hours or online at BrynMawrFilm.org.
About the PA Innocence Project
The Pennsylvania Innocence Project works to exonerate those convicted of crimes they did not commit and to prevent innocent people from being convicted. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project has a four-fold mission to: (1) secure the exoneration, release from imprisonment, and restoration to society of persons who are innocent and have been wrongly convicted; (2) provide clinical training and experience to students in the fields of law, journalism, criminal justice, and forensic science; (3) collaborate with law enforcement agencies and the courts to address systemic causes of wrongful convictions; and (4) strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in Pennsylvania through public education and advocacy.
About Sarah Burns
Sarah Burns is the author of The Central Park Five: The Untold Story Behind One of New York City’s Most Infamous Crimes and, along with David McMahon and Ken Burns, the producer, writer and director of the documentary The Central Park Five, about the five black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted in the infamous Central Park Jogger rape of 1989. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, was named the Best Non-Fiction film of 2012 by the New York Film Critics Circle and won a 2013 Peabody Award.
About Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI) is a nonprofit, member-supported motion picture theater and film education center located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. BMFI is dedicated to promoting shared experiences that entertain, engage, and educate audiences through a diverse range of independent-minded films, a full curriculum of courses, and an extensive program of special events. BMFI was established in 2005 and has since become one of the nation’s largest and most successful art house theaters.
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