
Free Chol Soo Lee
2022 · Movie · 83 min · ★ 7.3
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.
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Details
- Years
- 2022
- Release date
- 2022-08-12
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 83 min
- TMDB rating
- 7.3/10 (14 votes)
Themes
- prison
- death penalty
- san francisco, california
- political activism
- chinatown
- wrongful imprisonment
- san quentin
- korean american
- innocent in jail
- criminal justice system
- racial discrimination
- grassroots movement
- +2 more
Cast & crew
- CL
Chol Soo Lee
as Self (archive footage)
- SY
Sebastian Yoon
as Narrator (voice)
- RY
Ranko Yamada
as Self - Friend; Defense Committee
- KL
K.W. Lee
as Self - Investigative Reporter

Jeff Adachi
as Self - Activist
- DK
David Kakishiba
as Self - Activist
- JY
Jay Kun Yoo
as Self - Chair, Defense Committee
- GK
Grace Kim
as Self - Vice-chair, Defense Committee
- WF
Warren Furutani
as Self - L.A. Defense Committee

Leonard Weinglass
as Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)