Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 288: Mon Oct 15

The Central Park Five (Burns, McMahon, Burns, 2012): Vue5, Leicester Square, 6pm
This hard-hitting documentary also screens at the Renoir on Oct 20 at 4pm. Details here.


56th LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (10-21 October 2012) DAY 6

Every day (from October 10 to October 21) I will be selecting the London Film Festival choices you have a chance to get tickets for and the movies you are unlikely to see in London very soon unless you go to see them at the Festival. Here is the LFF's main website for the general information you need. Don't worry if some of the recommended films are sold out by the time you read this as there are always some tickets on offer which go on sale 30 minutes before each screening. Here is the information you need to get those standby tickets.


The London Film Festival (LFF) is essentially a greatest hits package from the earlier film festivals during the year. Word-of-mouth from the screenings at Cannes and elsewhere suggests this could be the pick of the LFF documentary competition in 2012.

This is a film that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park, New York. After having spent between six and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime. The ramifications of this shocking story are still being felt to this day. Here is writer

London Film Festival review: 
'One night in April 1989, the body of a female jogger was found in Central Park. She had been beaten and raped, and was left barely alive. Within days, and after hours of intense interrogations, the NYPD charged five teenagers from Harlem after recording their confessions. Amid media furore and public outrage, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam faced rape charges. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, along with collaborators David McMahon and Sarah Burns, revisit a crime that shocked New York and a court case that highlighted the deep divides along lines of race and class that existed in the city. With revelatory archive footage and contributions from many involved in the trial, The Central Park Five stands as a significant and illuminating examination of both an appalling crime and of the American justice system.'
Michael Hayden

Here is the trailer.

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