
Feature film — 2022
Free Chol Soo Lee (2022)
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.
The note
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A high-signal pick with 16 votes.
XTR / ITVS / Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
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Director: Eugene Yi
On screen
Cast & crew
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)
Josiah “Tink” Thompson
Self - Private Investigator
Gail Whang
Self - Bay Area Defense Committee
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