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Free Chol Soo Lee

Play trailer 1:59 Poster for Free Chol Soo Lee Released Aug 12, 2022 1h 23m Documentary History Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 42 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to survive, investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement.
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Free Chol Soo Lee

Free Chol Soo Lee

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Critics Consensus

Free Chol Soo Lee powerfully relates a story of injustice while issuing a searing indictment of the systemic racism that enabled it.

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Critics Reviews

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Robert Abele Los Angeles Times In its clear-eyed empathy for the totality of life, “Free Chol Soo Lee” is only deepened by not ignoring what happens when the spotlight fades on a righted wrong... Aug 25, 2022 Full Review K. Austin Collins Rolling Stone There’s an entire history of political representation to confront here, in other words, and even when Free Chol Soo Lee doesn’t seem to be taking this problem on in a direct way, the movie’s self-aware deviations from the norm are pronounced. Aug 22, 2022 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) [An] impressive and wrenchingly sad documentary... Rated: 4/5 Aug 21, 2022 Full Review R. Colin Tait The Playlist What “Free Chol Soo Lee” lacks in terms of earlier material, it more than compensates for in revealing this underseen historical movement. Rated: B+ Dec 17, 2022 Full Review Diego Batlle Otroscines.com Beyond the conscientious and dogmatic spirit, Free Chol Soo Lee is a sociopolitical documentary that digs into yesterday to find the footprints that still have an effect today. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 4/5 Oct 4, 2022 Full Review Glenn Dunks The Film Experience [Ha and Yi] instead tell their story with sober details, having amassed fascinating archival footage of the man, his family and the media storm that surrounded him. Sep 27, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (4) audience reviews
Sean Very powerful and important story Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/28/22 Full Review Johnny Fascinating account of our messed up justice system taking 10 years of an innocent man's life. Asian Americans have been discriminated against in so many ways, including within the justice system. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/19/22 Full Review Smoking K Saw this last night with the kid units. We all cried. The documentary delivers on so many arcs. It's great documentary film making. There isn't a lot of footage or recordings of Chol Soo Lee. How to make a film with so little material? Voice overs, a few re-enactments, and lots of texture including great sound work. It works as a personal story about Chol Soo Lee. A man born with a mountain of bad luck under tragic circumstances. A flawed man by design who was racially profiled and wronged by America's courts and the police. Again and again. The white people involved in wrongly accusing Lee and jailing him can't tell the difference between a Korean or a Chinese man. The Asian Americans in the documentary notice details about him like his smile and refer to his "beautiful face." Lee wasn't just a Korean man to them. He was born during the Korean War to a single mother into an impoverished family. He didn't want to come to America with his mother at the age of 12. This documentary upends the tired immigrant stories of longing and yearning for a beautiful America that gives a warm embrace to immigrants. It gives voice and faces to all those who helped him. There's a great sense of Asian American movement building and history. We all felt slighted by the white savior movie "True Believer". I've read about Lee since I was a child. I've been curious about him for decades. This movie makes him whole. This movie makes all the people who endeavored to help him whole. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/02/22 Full Review Audience Member The greatest 01 hour: and 23 minutes ever of real footage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Free Chol Soo Lee

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to survive, investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement.
Director
Julie Ha, Eugene Yi
Producer
Julie Ha, Sona Jo, Su Kim, Jean Tsien, Eugene Yi
Distributor
MUBI
Production Co
XTR
Genre
Documentary, History
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 12, 2022, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA)
$50.1K
Runtime
1h 23m
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