On June 15, 2011, we witnessed Vancouverites’ capacity for anarchy. Hours after the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, there was panic in the streets, shattered glass on the sidewalks, and smoke and pepper spray in the air as rioters left police cars ablaze and laid waste to blocks of downtown. As thousands of smartphone photos were posted online in the wake of the mayhem, social media platforms became the equivalent of old-fashioned “Wanted” posters. It turned out that concerned citizens’ handheld devices had unwittingly turned them into Big Brother.
In this absorbing documentary, Kathleen S. Jayme (The Grizzlie Truth) and Asia Youngman revisit the events of that chaotic night through interviews with the likes of Roberto Luongo, Jon Ronson, and Alexandra Samuel, and track down several of the then-young offenders who became the poster children for the riots and paid mightily for their misdeeds. In doing so, they make the compelling argument that mob mentalities flourish as readily and destructively online as they do in the streets.
October 2 & 5: Q&A with directors Kathleen S. Jayme & Asia Youngman & crew
Canada
2023
Special Presentations
English
Coarse Language, Violence, Nudity
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Asia Youngman, Kathleen S. Jayme, Marsha Cooke, John Dahl, Rob King, Brian Lockhart, Burke Magnus
Producer
Michael Tanko Grand, James Brown, Gentry Kirby, Mike Johnston
Cinematography
Kaayla Whachell
Editor
Greg Ng, Katie Chipperfield
Production Design
Ryan MacInnes
Original Music
Taylor Swindells, Jordan Klassen
Art Director
Matt Carson
Directors
Kathleen S. Jayme
Kathleen Jayme is an award-winning Filipina-Canadian filmmaker. Her short Finding Big Country won the Audience Award at VIFF (2018), as did her first feature film The Grizzlie Truth (winner of the 2019 TIFF Pitch This! Competition) three years later. Her sophomore feature (co-directed with Asia Youngman), I’m Just Here for the Riot, is an ESPN 30/30 that had its World Premiere at Hot Docs 2023. Kathleen has gone on to direct for the NBA, CBC, NFB, and ESPN.
Filmography: Finding Big Country (2018); The Grizzlie Truth (2022)
Asia Youngman
Asia Youngman is an award-winning Indigenous filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada. Some of her previous short films include This Ink Runs Deep (2019) and N’xaatikw (2022) which both premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her first feature-length documentary I’m Just Here For The Riot (2023) is part of ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30 series.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Another World
This hit anime from Hong Kong gives us an unpredictable, sometimes darkly karmic tale taking place on either side of the afterlife involving a headstrong princess with bad karma and the spirit guide who tries to help her get on a better path.
Alipato At Muog (Flying Embers & A Fortress)
Burgos' impassioned documentary about the military abduction of his brother Jonas, an activist and organizer, and the subsequent cover-up, recently became only the second doc to win the Filipino Academy Award for Best Film.
Mistura
This foodie film from Peru tells the story of a newly single socialite reinventing herself — and the local cuisine — after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Along the way, she finds support from unexpected places...
GoodFellas
The ultimate crash and burn movie, Scorsese's exhilarating gangster film is infused with the excitement of fast cash, girls, guns and drugs. Yet this brazenly amoral movie also captures the brutality, betrayal, and spiritual void of the criminal world.
