Back in 2016, New Jersey Stage spoke with filmmaker Kevin McLaughlin about a film called Riot, which was starting to have screenings at film festivals. The film told the story of the Newark riots of 1967 and how the city spent 50 years trying to overcome that violent period of time.
One decade later, the film has evolved into Riot - From Rebellion to Redemption, a film that has aired on PBS stations across the country and is available from the PBS free Streaming App. It will also be premiering on the WORLD channel on February 12th.
New Jersey Stage admires filmmakers like McLaughlin who are determined to see their projects reach the highest levels. For a documentary, airing on PBS is like reaching the summit. So we reached out to him to learn more about the path the film has taken over the past decade.
Congrats on getting the film on PBS and the WORLD channel! We talked a decade ago when your film was getting its first screenings. Has the film changed since then? If so, how?
Yes, the film has changed quite a bit since we first had some film festival screenings a decade ago. First, the title has evolved, from "The Week that Changed the World," to "Riot," to "Riot: From Rebellion to Redemption." Likewise, as I spent years looking for the funding it would take to release the film, I updated the story significantly, adding the parallels between Newark and Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd in 2020. The next logical step was to include the ongoing protests there and in other cities across the US today. But no version of the film has ever been widely seen, so the PBS release is effectively a world premiere.
Getting a documentary on PBS is probably the ultimate goal for a filmmaker. How rewarding was it for you to get Riot lined up there?
Getting picked up for distribution on PBS was a great honor. It's the ultimate stamp of approval for a documentary film, and I'm really happy that people all over the US will be able to see this story and hopefully learn from it. It will be airing on PBS stations and the PBS app for the next 3 years.
Riot seems like a labour of love for you. Does that come from it being a story truly connected to your own life or is it also from other riots America has seen in recent years?
Making the film was definitely a labor of love for me. I grew up in the shadows of the events of '67, and they definitely shaped who I am. It was a bizarre world to live in, with swirling elements of racism and segregation contributing to who our neighbors would be as the years went by. I was well into the process of making the film before the rioting in Ferguson or Minneapolis started, so they were not motivating factors to start with, but they helped spur me on over the years, as they accentuated the fact that we could all use some education on the topic of public protest and what can go wrong when citizens clash with law enforcement.
What were your thoughts when you saw riot scenes on tv news like in Minneapolis?
My first thought and feeling when I see violence breaking out anywhere is sadness. It's heartbreaking to see that more families will lose loved ones, people will lose their homes and communities, and scars will be formed that never go away. It says that a film like mine is more needed than ever, sadly. They say that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. And those who ignore it are doomed to repeat it.
Post PBS, do you have any other goals / hopes for the film?
A full "director's cut" of the film will be available to the public soon. It has an additional 23 minutes of material vs. the 1-hour PBS version. I also hope to have the film widely distributed to the educational market, and many who have seen it say it should be required viewing in schools. There will be an educational version in 3 chapters, each under a half-hour, so they will be compatible with the length of a typical class period. We're also planning an in-person public screening followed by a Q&A session. And I'm still looking for sponsors who might want to be associated with the film and have their name and message on the PBS broadcasts. Anyone interested in any of these developments can learn more and reach out to me at the film's website, riotthefilm.com.
Any other projects you'd like to mention?
I'm always a little annoyed when I'm referred to as a "documentary filmmaker," when the truth is, I only started making documentaries when I couldn't find the money to make the fiction films that are my true passion! I'm very excited about my next project, "The Crossing," a dramatic feature based on the true story of my grandmother's immigration to the US from Ireland. I'm in the process of signing on a producer and investors for that.
Kevin McLaughlin
For more on the film visit riotthefilm.com. You can watch the film on PBS here. To read the original 2016 feature, click here.
