AIFF on the Small Screen: Hooligan Sparrow

Hooligan Sparrow

Find it on: Netflix | iTunes | YouTube
Documentary
84 minutes
Director: Nanfu Wang
Year: 2016
Country: China, USA

Follow a group of activists led by Ye Haiyan (Sparrow) across southern China as they seek justice for six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their school principal and another government official. Sparrow becomes an enemy of the state, harassed by the secret police and hounded from town to town. But detentions, interrogations, and evictions can’t stop her protest from going viral. First time filmmaker Nanfu Wang also becomes a target, suffering intimidation and destroyed equipment. Against great odds, she keeps shooting with hidden cameras and secret recording devices, smuggling the footage out of the country. A powerful portrait of what it takes to defend human rights in China today.