Hooligan Sparrow
The seemingly impossible battle for human rights
The danger is palpable as filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan (a.k.a Hooligan Sparrow) and her band of colleagues to Hainan Province in southern China to protest the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. Marked as enemies of the state, the activists are under constant government surveillance and face interrogation, harassment, and imprisonment. Sparrow, who gained notoriety with her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights, continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights and arms herself with the power and reach of social media.
Wang becomes a target along with Sparrow, as she faces destroyed cameras and intimidation. She keeps shooting guerrilla-style, with secret recording devices and hidden—camera glasses, and in the process, exposes undercover security agents on the streets. Eventually, through smuggling footage out of the country, Wangs’ story of Sparrow and her fellow activists makes it out, giving viewers unprecedented access to the realities human rights activists face in China today.
Director
Nanfu Wang
Producer
Nanfu Wang
Runtime
84 & 60 minutes
Rights Represented
International Rights
Captions Available
English
Language
Mandarin, English
Press
“Wang’s film has a grass roots, on-the-ground urgency: nervy, paranoid camerawork gives a sense of the realities of life on the sharp edge of activism.”
- Screen Daily
“Remarkable”
- IndieWire
Festival & Awards
Official Selection SUNDANCE Film Festival
Director Nanfu Wang – IDA Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award