9-Man (2014)

Directed by

Ursula Liang

Genre

documentary

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 27m

Rated

PG-13

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows the all-male sport of 9-man played in Chinatowns across the U.S. and Canada. It features players and community leaders including a volleyball Olympian and a Chinatown historian. The film captures the competitions and personal stories behind this niche tradition.

energeticnostalgiccommunity-focusedbittersweetlivelyearnestobservationalintimate

What happens

9-Man is a 2014 American documentary film about the sport 9-man played in Chinatowns in the U.S. and Canada. The New York Times called it "an absorbing documentary." The film, which had its world premiere at IFFBoston on April 27, 2014, won six film festival awards and was broadcast on the PBS World Channel series America ReFramed on May 5, 2015 and January 24, 2017. The film, which follows the all-male sport of 9-man, was produced by a largely female crew, led by first-time director Ursula Liang and editor Michelle Chang. Featured in the film are U.S. volleyball Olympian and NBC commentator Kevin Wong and Chinatown historian John Kuo Wei Tchen. 9-Man also features the now deceased "mayor" of Boston's Chinatown, Reggie Wong, who was a leader in the 9-man community. 9-Man was part of the SkyFest series on Virgin America airlines in the summer of 2015. The music for the film was written by Adam Rubenstein and Scott CHOPS Jung, the pioneering Chinese-American hip-hop producer and member of Mountain Brothers. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Lost Arcade (2015)
• Everything Will Be (2014)
• Forbidden City, U.S.A. (1989)
• In Football We Trust (2015)
• Big Fight in Little Chinatown (2022)
• The Redeem Team (2022)
• Beijing Punk (2010)
• New York Street Games (2010)