Free Chol Soo Lee screening

Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.

“‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ tells the story of a significant moment in not only Asian American history, but also in American history. And yet it was little known and at risk of staying buried in history. We could not let that happen,” said filmmakers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. “Chol Soo Lee was no model minority when a group of people took up his cause. He was a poor immigrant kid with a criminal record, and yet he inspired a landmark nationwide movement that boldly fought for his freedom and for justice. We hope the film’s home on INDEPENDENT LENS will ensure that Chol Soo Lee’s story lives on, and that the legacy of the movement carries forward, inspiring new generations of activists, journalists, and people of conscience to work toward creating a more just society for all.”

“Free Chol Soo Lee” is part of a five-year pipeline of stories centering criminal justice issues, presented by INDEPENDENT LENS under its Stories for Justice public media partnership. Through a groundswell of more than 20 documentary films and docuseries, the initiative aims to increase awareness of racial inequities within the criminal justice system and inspire local communities to support reform efforts.

Free Chol Soo Lee will premiere on PBS on April 24, 2023.