Hooligan Sparrow

Synopsis

The danger is palpable as intrepid young 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.

Director Biography

Nanfu Wang is an independent documentary filmmaker originally from China and currently based in New York City. Hooligan Sparrow is her feature-film debut. It has been included in IFP’s Filmmaker Lab, the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Summit and Lab, Sundance Catalyst Forum, and DOK.Incubator in Leipzig, Germany. Wang holds three master’s degrees from New York University, Ohio University, and Shanghai University in news and documentary, media studies, and English literature, respectively.