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 will premiere on WSIU on April 24, 2023 at 9 p.m. and will also be available to stream on the PBS App.
Join us at the Carbondale Public Library for a film screening and community conversation on Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 2:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public.
WSIU and the Carbondale Public Library will host a screening and community conversation centered on the Independent Lens film Free Chol Soo Lee by filmmakers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi.
Guest presenter is Dr. Mingqing Xiao, a Chinese American, currently a professor of mathematics at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He got his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997 and worked at University of California at Davis for two more years. Since 2000, he has been lived in Southern Illinois with his wife and three daughters.
Dr. Xiao is the recipient of One Region All Neighbors `Neighborly’ Award in July 2021 from WSIU Public Broadcasting for his devotion to help local young students in math on Saturdays for many years. He was also named the Excellent Scholar in 2016 by the College of Science at SIUC. In his spare time, he enjoys helping the local community as well as to teach local students in math.
Individuals with disabilities are welcome. Call (618) 453-4344 to request accommodations.
Carbondale Public Library
405 West Main Street
Carbondale, IL 62901
618-457-0354
ABOUT THE FILM
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.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Julie Ha’s (Director) 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 (Director) 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.
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Additional Resources
Download the Discussion Guide: Free Chol Soo Lee
WSIU Film Events
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a WSIU media project that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Indie Lens Pop-Up features documentaries from the PBS hit series Independent Lens, draws local residents together to discuss newsworthy topics. Events are free and open to the public.
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, visitpbs.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.
