9-MAN Video Introduction
9-MAN
Dir. Ursula Shih Liang | USA | 2014 | 89 mins
We are very proud to co-present 9-MAN (by Ursula Liang, WO AI NI MOMMY, AAIFF’10), a feature-length documentary about a gritty streetball game played competitively in Chinatown since the 1930s, as part of the Stranger than Fiction series and in association with the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.
The screening is to be followed by a Q&A with director Ursula Liang.
DATE: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
VENUE: IFC Center
TIME: 8:00pm
GET YOUR TICKETS AT: STRANGER THAN FICTION
When the Chinatown community was a Bachelor Society (men outnumbered women by huge percentages) and 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 to 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. 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-sometimes to the malcontent of outsiders.
About Stranger than Fiction: Stranger than Fiction presents exclusive documentary film screenings followed by conversations with filmmakers and special guests at the IFC Center. 9-MAN is co-presented with Asian CineVision and the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.