Apr 08 2023
Indie Lens Pop-Up: Free Chol Soo Lee

Indie Lens Pop-Up: Free Chol Soo Lee

Presented by Presa House Gallery at Presa House Gallery

Free Chol Soo Lee, 2022 (60 min)
Filmmakers: Julie Ha (Director) and Eugene Yi (Director)

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.

Through the careful telling of Lee’s life story, Free Chol Soo Lee sheds light on a little-known period in Asian American history and the legacy of the movement that fought for Lee’s freedom. It is one that remains ever timely and relevant, as recent years have seen a drastic uptick in violence against Asian Americans since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The film will make its television debut on PBS’s Emmy Award-winning documentary anthology series INDEPENDENT LENS on April 24, 2023, at 10:00 p.m. ET (check local listings). Free Chol Soo Lee will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Julie Ha’s storytelling career spans more than two decades in ethnic and mainstream media, with a specialized focus on Asian American stories. She was former editor-in-chief of KoreAm Journal, a national Korean American magazine. Free Chol Soo Lee, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, is her first documentary film.

Eugene Yi is a filmmaker, editor, and writer from Los Angeles. His editing work has been in Berlinale, TriBeCa, and The New York Times. He was a contributing editor for KoreAm Journal, a national Korean American magazine.

Su Kim is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy®️ and Peabody Award-winning producer. Her films in release include Bitterbrush; the OSCAR®️ and Primetime Emmy®️-nominated Hale County This Morning, This Evening; and Midnight Traveler.

Jean Tsien is a documentary editor, producer, and consultant. She received two Peabody Awards in 2021: for executive producing the PBS series Asian Americans; and for producing 76 Days, winner of a 2021 Primetime Emmy®️. She has received Sundance Institute’s 2018 Art of Editing Mentorship Award and DOC NYC’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sona Jo produces feature documentaries about conflict, war, trauma, and women. Her films include 206: Unearthed, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 2021 Busan IFF, and Coming To You, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 2021 Jeonju IFF. She is a board member of the Korean Independent Producers & Directors’ Association.

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Blue Veil, 2021 (5:27 min)
Directed by Shireen Alihaji
In the wake of 9/11, a First-Gen Muslim teenager discovers her mother’s cassette tapes. The recordings reflect her parent’s migration stories and serve as a roadmap to Amina’s identity. As music unlocks memories, Amina discovers who she is.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Shireen Alihaji is a First Gen, Ecuadorian-Iranian, Muslim and Disabled filmmaker. Her intersections inspire her to create space through film technologies. Given how we remember is pivotal to healing, her films use memory as a central gaze to de-internalize surveillance, uncensor the imagination and mirror our infinite reflections. To learn more about Shireen visit ShireenAlihaji.com

ABOUT INDIE LENS POP-UP

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together—virtually and in-person—for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations together to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics, to family and community relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation. For more information, visit pbs.org/independentlens/indie-lens-pop-up

ABOUT INDEPENDENT LENS

INDEPENDENT LENS is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly PBS series airing Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET. The acclaimed series, with Lois Vossen as executive producer, features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by ITVS, the series is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding from Acton Family Giving, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit pbs.org/independentlens. Join the conversation: facebook.com/independentlens and on Twitter @IndependentLens.

Admission Info

FREE

Phone: (210) 913-5842

Email: presahousegallery@gmail.com

Dates & Times

2023/04/08 - 2023/04/08

Location Info

Presa House Gallery

725 S. Presa St., San Antonio, TX 78210