HOOLIGAN SPARROW Doc Exposes China’s Sex Worker Industry & the Fight for Human Rights

HOOLIGAN SPARROW is a documentary that captures activist Ye Haiyan, a.k.a Hooligan Sparrow, and filmmaker Nanfu Wang as they protest the sexual assault of six elementary school girls while exposing myths about China’s sex workers and HIV. Filmmaker Wang recalls the difficulty and obstacles in getting the film made, China’s secret police, and how Hooligan Sparrow became an activist in this uncensored Sundance edition of BYOD hosted by Ondi Timoner.

Guest Bio

HOOLIGAN SPARROW follows filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows 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.

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.