Event

DisOrient 2016 - 9-Man

Feature Documentary (2014) 89 min English USA
Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer Ursula Liang
Executive Producer Melanie Riley-Green

'9-Man' is an independent feature documentary about an isolated and exceptionally athletic Chinese-American sport that's much more than a pastime. Since the 1930's, young men have played this gritty, streetball game competitively in the alleys and parking lots of Chinatown. When the community was a Bachelor Society (men outnumbered women 4-to-1) at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act forced Chinese restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves, nine-man offered both escape and fraternity for men who were separated from their families in China and facing extreme discrimination and distrust. Today, some 80 years later, nine-man is a lasting connection to Chinatown for a community of men who know a different, more integrated America and it's a game that has grown exponentially in athleticism. But its still played in isolation. Nine-man punctuates each summer with a vibrant, aggressive, exhausting bragging-rights tournament that unites thousands of Chinese-Americans and maintains traditional rules and customs, including one very controversial and exclusionary rule that 2/3 of the players must be '100%' Chinese.

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*****DisOrient has multiple venues for screenings on Saturday afternoon. Please check theater locations of all tickets that you purchase to avoid conflicts.*****