''I'm Just Here for the Riot'' is a 2023

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the 2011 Stanley Cup riot that occurred in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

after Game 7 of the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

between the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. Directed by

Kathleen Jayme Kathleen Jayme is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Vancouver, British Columbia. She is most noted for the films '' Finding Big Country'' and ''The Grizzlie Truth'', which examine the history of the ill-fated Vancouver Grizzlies of the Nationa ...

and

Asia Youngman Asia Youngman is a Cree- Métis filmmaker from Canada. In 2017 she released her debut short documentary film ''Lelum, which won the award for Best Documentary Short at the 2017 imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. In 2018, she was one of ...

, it examines the riot through on-the-ground footage, interviews with many people who were there, including rioters who were outed on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and the, "lasting, multi-platform impact the riot had across the city." The documentary premiered at the 2023

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

. It also screened at the 42nd Vancouver International Film Festival. It’s the 124th in ESPN's ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

''.

Background

An estimated 155,000 people were in downtown Vancouver to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. A massive riot broke out almost immediately after the conclusion of the Boston Bruins win over the Vancouver Canucks. 122 cars were damaged or destroyed, police cars were burned, building windows were shattered and stores were looted as waves of young people were caught in

mob mentality Herd mentality, mob mentality or pack mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make dif ...

, resulting in over $3.78M in damages. At least 140 people were injured, including 9 police officers and 101 people arrested. In total, police brought 887 charges against 301 people.

Production

Both directors,

and Asia Youngman, are Vancouverites who watched Game 7: Youngman was present downtown while Jayme watched from home. Jayme went downtown the following morning to interview cleanup volunteers. They began developing the documentary together in 2018 but every broadcaster in Canada turned them down. In February 2020, they pitched it to the former director of development at

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and were greenlit the following year. Sound and colour correction was completed by April 2023.

Cast

Rioters were quickly identified online, described as the first "smartphone riot" and "trial-by-social-media." Interviews include some of the people whose faces were "named and shamed."

Reception

Susan G. Cole, writing for ''POV Magazine'', said it was an "emotional experience" and "loaded with information." Rachel Ho praised its "balanced approach exploring the effects of social media and mob mentality." Writing for TheGATE, Andrew Parker described it as "a typically great ESPN ''30 for 30'' documentary" and "compelling viewing... sure to spark debate." The film was named to the initial longlist for the 2023

Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award The Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award is an annual Canadian award, presented by the Directors Guild of Canada to honour works by emerging filmmakers. Presented for the first time in 2016, the award is given primarily to filmmakers making their ...

.Connie Thiessen
"DGC unveils 2023 Discovery Award long list"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', September 12, 2023.

References

{{Vancouver Canucks 2023 documentary films 2023 films Canadian sports documentary films Canadian ice hockey films Documentary films about Vancouver Vancouver Canucks 30 for 30

Background

Production

Cast

Reception

See also

References