BYODinner x Film Screening: Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival + cinéSPEAK present 9-Man

A BYODinner and screening of Ursula Liang’s 9-Man under the stars, with Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, cinéSPEAK, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, and Friends of the Rail Park. Mingle with friends old and new, and stay for a post-screening discussion.

6 p.m. / BYODinner
6:30–8 p.m. / Screening of 9-Man
8–8:30 p.m. / Post-Screening Discussion with PAAFF Director Rob Buscher & Harry Leong of the Philadelphia Suns

9-Man (2014)
Directed by Ursula Liang
Running Time: 1 hour 29 min
Languages: English / Chinese

9-Man uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys and it is fiercely protected by a community of men who who require that 2/3 of players are “100% Chinese.” A 9-man tournament grew in the 1930s, at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws forced restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. Today it’s a lasting connection to Chinatown for a dynamic community of men who know a different, more integrated world, but still fight to maintain autonomy and tradition.