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Free Chol Soo Lee
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Free Chol Soo Lee

Aug 12, 2022
1h 23m
★ 7.3

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.

Genres

Documentary
Crime

Production Companies

XTR
ITVS
Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)

Free Chol Soo Lee Trailers

Cast

Chol Soo Lee

Self (archive footage)

Chol Soo Lee

Sebastian Yoon

Narrator (voice)

Sebastian Yoon

Ranko Yamada

Self - Friend; Defense Committee

Ranko Yamada

K.W. Lee

Self - Investigative Reporter

K.W. Lee

Jeff Adachi

Self - Activist

Jeff Adachi

David Kakishiba

Self - Activist

David Kakishiba

Jay Kun Yoo

Self - Chair, Defense Committee

Jay Kun Yoo

Grace Kim

Self - Vice-chair, Defense Committee

Grace Kim

Warren Furutani

Self - L.A. Defense Committee

Warren Furutani

Leonard Weinglass

Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)

Leonard Weinglass

Josiah “Tink” Thompson

Self - Private Investigator

Josiah “Tink” Thompson

Gail Whang

Self - Bay Area Defense Committee

Gail Whang

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