todd_platek Review of Hooligan Sparrow

Hooligan Sparrow (2016)

Courageous Documentary of Persecution in China Today

[9/10 · 19 October 2016]

This documentary is gritty in portraying the relentless, sometimes seemingly hopeless, perseverance of human rights advocates (both lay persons and lawyers)in the face of a totalitarian government and society that are still, at their roots, feudalistic. The dangers faced by all the persons in this film, not the least of which danger is risked by the filmmaker herself, cannot be underestimated by the Western viewer. Questioning the system places one outside the system for all intents and purposes; filming it places the filmmaker in a possibly more precarious position. Watching this film is not easy, but it is necessary in order to understand the hardships endured by those incredibly brave few persons who risk life and limb for the cause of justice in China.