Saturday Short

[The film] . . . addresses an existential paradox: we all want

to feel like we matter, there is some purpose and value in 

our lives, and yet we're faced with the uneasy prospects 

of impermanence and insignificance. . . .

~ Katy Grannan*

Today's short is the trailer for the documentary The Nine (2016) from photographer and filmmaker-director Katy Grannan, who is known for her intimate portraits of strangers. 

The Nine in the film's title refers to South Ninth Street, Modesto, California, a poverty-ravaged "no man's land where the rules of polite society do not apply . . . existence is a day to day hustle, and survival is by any means necessary." The film's focus is the drifter Kiki whose sense of self-worth comes to rely on the film's making.

The film, produced by Marc Smolowitz, was screened earlier this month at DOC NYC, and has been shown at Flyway Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, and elsewhere; its U.S. premiere was at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. It also has been screened abroad.

THE NINE | TRAILER (2016) from Katy Grannan on Vimeo.

Katy Grannan on FaceBook

The Nine on FaceBook

* Quoted from Charlie White's interesting interview with Katy Grannan at Kaleidoscope, Issue #26, Winter 2016.