Centering around the misguided prosecution of five African American boys for a crime they did not commit, the so-called “Central Park Five case” stands as a modern paradigm of racial injustice, even as it evokes a long history of similar events in American history. Created, written and directed by Ava DuVernay, When They See Us is the Netflix miniseries based on the 1989 case, exploring the arrest and trial’s impact on the five prosecuted Harlem teens and their families and questioning the U.S. criminal justice system, at a time in which those themes are still sadly all too relevant. HFPA members Elizabeth Sereda and Mirai Konishi talked to the director about making this critically acclaimed show.