Film

Free Chol Soo Lee

2022 · 1h 23m · Documentary · Crime

IMDb

7.2

Rotten Tomatoes

100%

Metacritic

73

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.

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

Jai Lee Wong

Self - L.A. Defense Committee

Mike Suzuki

Self - Bay Area Defense Committee

Me Yea Lee

Self - Mother of Chol Soo Lee (archive footage)

Leonard Tauman

Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)

• Julie HaDirector · Producer
• Eugene YiDirector · Producer
• Jean TsienEditor · Producer
• Jo So-naProducer
• Kathryn EverettExecutive Producer
• Sally Jo FiferExecutive Producer
• Stephen GongExecutive Producer
• Andy HsiehExecutive Producer
• Bryn MooserExecutive Producer
• Lois VossenExecutive Producer

Official Trailer

Release date

August 12, 2022

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

1h 23m

Rated

12A

Revenue

$50,083

Genres

Documentary, Crime

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