Free Chol Soo Lee (2022)

73 %
based on 13 user ratings

Released:
2022-08-12

Overview:
On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Directors:
Julie Ha, Eugene Yi

Runtime:
1h 23min

Genre:
Documentary, Crime

  • Cast:
  • Chol Soo Lee
    as
    Self (archive footage)
  • Sebastian Yoon
    as
    Narrator (voice)
  • Ranko Yamada
    as
    Self - Friend; Defense Committee
  • K.W. Lee
    as
    Self - Investigative Reporter
  • Jeff Adachi
    as
    Self - Activist