9Man (2014)

9Man is an independent feature documentary about an isolated and exceptionally athletic ChineseAmerican sport thats much more than a pastime Since the 1930s young men have played this gritty streetball game competitively in the alleys and parking lots of Chinatown At a time when antiChinese sentiment and laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act forced Chinese restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves nineman offered both escape and fraternity for men who were separated from their families in China and facing extreme discrimination and distrust Pivoting between oilspotted Chinatown parking lots and jellyfishfilled banquet scenes the film captures the spirit of nineman as players not only battle for a championship but fight to preserve a sport that holds so much history