Metro

Ken Burns ‘Central Park jogger’ rape documentary gets boost from filmmaker’s ‘friends’

Famed documentarian Ken Burns has some reel-y good “friends.”

Several high-powered news organizations and filmmakers’ groups submitted “friend of the court” briefs today in a bid to block the city from subpoenaing outtakes from Burns’ new documentary on the infamous “Central Park jogger” rape case.

One of the Manhattan federal court filings says the city — which is fighting a $250 million civil suit by the five men whose convictions were tossed — “disregards the important principal that journalists must be free to work independently of the judicial process.”

The other says “the chilling effects on the documentary film industry will be significant and far-reaching” if the city’s subpoena isn’t quashed.

The city contends that Burns’ Florentine Films can’t claim to be independent journalists because his daughter, Sarah Burns — who helped write, direct and produce “The Central Park Five” — formerly worked for a law firm that represents plaintiffs in the case.

bruce.golding@nypost.com