'Allen v. Farrow' directors say Woody Allen has an 'open invitation' to be interviewed for the docuseries: 'I'm sure HBO would do a 5th episode'

• Directors Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick are pushing back on Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn.
• The disgraced director and his wife panned "Allen v. Farrow" in a scatching statement.
• "Woody is welcome to talk to us," Amy Ziering said. "It's an open invitation."

Filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick are pushing back on Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, who claimed in a scathing statement last month that their four-part HBO docuseries, "Allen v. Farrow," was "a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods."

The series has led many people to reexamine the allegations that the disgraced filmmaker sexually abused his former adopted daughter, Dylan, when she was 7 years old.

In a statement, first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Allen and Previn denounced the series and denied the allegations.

The statement added: "These documentarians had no interest in the truth. Instead, they spent years surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers."

Ziering told Insider last week in response, "It's precocious to make that statement if you haven't seen all four parts."

Allen and Previn also claimed in a statement that they "were approached less than two months ago and given only a matter of days 'to respond.' Of course, they declined to do so."

The filmmakers said that is untrue.

"We gave them a window of time to just respond and then we would set up a time and it could have been months later," Ziering said. "They are not accurately presenting things."

Dick added: "Keep in mind, this is in the era of COVID-19, so this would have been the easiest interview ever because they would have been sitting in front of their computer. They wouldn't have had to leave their apartment."

The filmmakers said their requests for an interview with Allen or Previn were met with silence.

"But it's an open invitation," Ziering said. "I'm sure HBO would do a fifth episode so Woody is welcome to talk to us."

Insider contacted Allen's rep for comment, but did not get a response.

"Allen v. Farrow" examines the relationship Allen had with his ex-girlfriend, actress Mia Farrow, through the 1990s and the accusations by the child they adopted, Dylan, that she was sexually abused by the filmmaker in the attic of Farrow's Connecticut home. It also features excerpts from a home video Farrow shot of then 7-year-old Dylan saying what Allen did to her.

The accusation led to a tabloid-fueled custody battle between Allen and Farrow. (Allen was never charged for a crime in connection the accusations and for years has denied them).

With decades of conflicting stories on the subject, do Ziering and Dick believe their docuseries can sway anyone's opinion on what actually happened?

"There will always be some people out there that will not be persuaded no matter how much evidence they are given," Dick added. "But we have seen in the past with our films that actually it really helps change the way people look at the issue generally and the cases we looked into specifically."

Ziering and Dick have built a career looking at sexual abuse as they also made documentaries "The Invisible War," about sexual abuse in the military; "The Hunting Ground," about sexual assault on US college campuses; and "On the Record," about the sexual abuse allegations against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons from former record executive Drew Dixon.

"What we hope is by people seeing this series, they will come to understand the issue of sexual abuse better and then they will be less susceptible to those kinds of distractions or distortions," Dick said.

The final episode of "Allen v. Farrow" airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.