Hooligan Sparrow

An inspired nickname for Ye Haiyan, the ‘hooligan sparrow’ of the title, a small, square, feisty package, who employs outrageous, breath-taking tactics to correct embedded societal wrongs, with some success. And at some cost. Her causes are the rights of sex workers, and exposing sex abuse, especially a school principal who pimps the female students to government officials. Hounded from city to city, dumped on the city limits (often), her abandoned household goods have been immortalised by Ai Weiwei. The observers of the piece are her wonderfully untrammeled daughter who shares her journey, and the increasingly uneasy filmmaker, Nanfu Wang. A fine portrait of a fascinating bandit in a modern China where the Law is the real outlaw.

Courtesy of the Director.

Ashlind IFF 2016 Les Blank Award
Dallas IFF 2016 Silver Heart Award
Nashville FF 2016 Special Jury Prize Badass Filmmaking