Free Chol Soo Lee (2022)
Title: Free Chol Soo Lee
Original Title: Free Chol Soo Lee
Release Date: 2022-08-12
Status: Released
Rating: 7.3/10 (from 12 votes)
Language: EN
Genres: Documentary, Crime
Production Companies: XTR, ITVS, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
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.
Cast
Chol Soo Lee
Self (archive footage)
Sebastian Yoon
Narrator (voice)
Ranko Yamada
Self - Friend; Defense Committee
K.W. Lee
Self - Investigative Reporter
Jeff Adachi
Self - Activist
David Kakishiba
Self - Activist
Jay Kun Yoo
Self - Chair, Defense Committee
Grace Kim
Self - Vice-chair, Defense Committee
Warren Furutani
Self - L.A. Defense Committee
Leonard Weinglass
Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)
