This powerful documentary by Julie Ha & Eugene Yi exposes the complicated history of a wrongful-conviction of Chol Soo Lee & through his struggle for freedom & justice became a figurehead for Asian American activism in the 1970s. Sentenced to life, Chol Soo Lee spends years fighting to survive until investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement that would unite Asian Americans & inspire a new generation of activists. With the pandemic giving rise to Asian hate, this film & its message are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.
Thanks to our friends at MUBI, on 16 August, we hosted two very special sold out community preview screenings of this vital film in London & Manchester. We featured introductory recorded messages from Steven Yeun (Nope, Minari) plus the directors, Julie Ha & Eugene Yi; with talks from specials guests Sarah Owen MP, Viv Yau & Hau-Yu Tam.
Post screening we launched Love in a Time of Asian Hate, companion piece to the film which was co-created with members from the BESEA community in collaboration with MilkTea & the support of Mubi.
Free Chol Soo Lee
Sarah Owen is an ardent campaigner with strong trade union roots who became Labour MP for Luton North in 2019. She is currently a whip and Shadow Minister in the Shadow Levelling Up, Housing & Communities team. As well as being a dedicated local MP, Sarah has focused nationally on tackling homelessness, poverty, VAWG, health inequality, international human rights & fighting for miscarriage bereavement leave.
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Viv Yau is a Manchester-based influencer marketing agency owner working with clients such as Lee Kum Kee, as well as co-founder of besea.n. During 2020, Viv started a petition to stop the media depiction of ESEA people in covid related media, which gained over 30,000 signatures, resulting in Sarah Owen MP leading the first ever UK parliamentary debate on ESEA racism. Now, Viv’s focusses on building communities at besea.n, especially for the second ever ESEA Heritage Month which will take place across the UK in September 2022.
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