"In many regions there have been cases where school principals presented kids to government officials as bribes." (From the film)
An investigation into a principal who took 6 girls out of school to a hotel and kept them there overnight was covered up by the government. A group of human rights activists, including director Nanfu Wang and sex worker Ye Haiyan (Sparrow), protest on social media and in front of the school. Ye Haiyan, the fiercest among the protestors, starts receiving threats. People in the government's pay start appearing on her street. Men break into her house and plunder her belongings. Despite all the difficulties of uncovering state corruption, Nanfu Wang and Ye Haiyan don't give up. A very familiar story for people living under oppressive governments.
2016 STOCKHOLM BEST DOCUMENTARY, NASHVILLE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, SUNDANCE, ZURICH
Nanfu Wang is an independent filmmaker based in New York City. She attended a graduate program in English Language and Literature at Shanghai University, then pursued graduate film studies, first in the journalism school at Ohio University and later at New York University's documentary program. Since completing her studies, Wang has produced short films that have been distributed on many platforms and translated into several languages. Her work often features the stories of marginalized or mistreated people. Hooligan Sparrow (2016) is Wang's feature debut.
