Little Pond in Main Street

35000 Watts: The Story of College Radio

July 2024 •English

The students behind the mic and the bands they made famous tell the story of the youth and music culture that originated, and later flourished, on the airwaves of American colleges and universities, establishing a new generational voice and a new path to success for many alumni and artists.

29 years of impunity. The phenomenon of Father Tadeusz

January 2021 •Polish

A monk who got away with everything. Although much of his behavior aroused public outrage, or at least controversy, he never suffered any real consequences for it.

88.9 Radio Redfern

September 1989 •English

An observational documentary which looks at Sydney’s first community Aboriginal radio station, 88.9 Radio Redfern. Set against a backdrop of contemporary Aboriginal music, 88.9 Radio Redfern offers a special and rare exploration of the people, attitudes and philosophies behind the lead up to a different type of celebration of Australia’s Bicentennial Year. Throughout 1988, 88.9 Radio Redfern became an important focal point for communication and solidarity within the Aboriginal community. The film reveals how urban blacks are adapting social structures such as the mass media to serve their needs.

Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM

October 2023 •English

Built out of “a pile of radio junk,” Bethesda, Maryland’s WHFS was a music fan’s dream of a radio station: the place on the dial to hear music listeners loved and new tunes they soon would, all with an anything-goes mentality and an ear for the sounds of social change. This doc pays loving tribute to free-form radio and WHFS’s influence over FM stations across the US from the 1960s to the 1980s. All good things come to an end, and so did the disc-jockey-driven format that WHFS pioneered and made successful, but its legacy lives on. The station’s DJs relate its history with passion in this film that captures the tenor of an era, abetted by reminiscences of performers including Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Jesse Colin Young, and others whose music found its way to ears and minds eager for something more than the same old Top 40 programming.

Kick Out the Jams: The Story of XFM

August 2022 •English

Titled after the first-ever song to play on their airwaves, Kick Out the Jams follows the development of XFM from its rebellious pirate radio roots in the early 90’s, through to its official FM radio launch in 1997 as a major platform for launching alternative talent into the mainstream. The doc deep-dives into the struggles and influence of the station which gave rise to the likes of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, whose global hits The Office and The Ricky Gervais Show were originally developed while working at the radio station.

Sex and Broadcasting

November 2014 •English

SEX AND BROADCASTING is a feature length documentary about New Jersey's WFMU, the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders together.

Talking Dreams

April 2020 •Italian

In a village in West Africa where dreams play a key role, the hosts of local radio interpret the oniric visions of their listeners. The language of dreams is spoken here. The limits between the real and the fantastic blur, and time is suspended.

Jolly Roger

November 2003 •German

"Jolly Roger" could mean Roger Schawinski. But by definition, a "Jolly Roger" is the classic black pirate flag with skull and crossbones. This documentary tells the unvarnished story of the Swiss radio pirates who emerged in the 1970s. The focus is on Radio 24 in its wild years, when Schawinski's team broadcast from Italy, with the strongest FM station in the world at the time, straight down from Pizzo Groppera, 130 kilometers all the way to the Zurich area. Supported by numerous original documents from private filmmakers and from the SRG archives, the viewer relives the absurd radio war between David and Goliath that lasted almost four years, 24 years after this war between the radio pirates and the state power began on November 13, 1979. The many known and unknown fighters, who rallied behind their Radio Winkelried Schawinski in 1979 to help usher Switzerland into a new media age, remember the good and bad times, the demonstrations and the numerous threatened and actual closures.

Jak se dělal Radiojournal

January 1973 •Czech

Good Morning Austria

January 2007 •German

A working day in Austria, 2004. Nine modern working-class heroes are engaged in their daily struggle of survival, accompanied, motivated and influenced by the country’s most popular radio station.

Générations Hip Hop

October 2003 •French

Musical compilation of live performances by French hip-hop artists.

When Moyles Met the Radio 1 Breakfast DJs

May 2010 •English

DJ Chris Moyles looks at how the Radio 1 Breakfast Show has reflected life in Britain over the past 40 years, as he meets his predecessors in the early morning slot.

Nuxalk Radio

June 2020 •English

A day in the life of 91.1, Nuxalk Radio, a radio station built to help keep the Nuxalk language alive while broadcasting the laws of the lands and waters.

Radio Free Newport: The True Story of WNOP

October 2019 •English

Imagine an AM Radio Station with a dawn to dusk license that played nothing but jazz and comedy records. Did I mention it FLOATED in the Ohio River and changed the culture of a Community? The history of Cincinnati Jazz is long, wide, diverse and in the case of WNOP sometimes beyond belief. Saxophonist turned filmmaker Christopher Braig's second Film will focus on the people, music, and cities that kept "The Jazz Ark" sailing for 42 years from 1968 to 2000.

We Want The Airwaves: The WFNX Story

October 2013 •English

After 30 years as Boston's fiercely independent Alternative music station, WFNX announces that it is being sold to Clear Channel Communications, and news of the sale rattles generations of music fans who had grown to believe that WFNX would always exist at 101.7 on their FM dial. As the station counts down its last sixty days on the air, current and former WFNX employees reminisce about the station's rich history and reflect on what the sale of this perennial David in a land of radio Goliaths says about the changing ways we relate to music and media.

Grave Decisions

August 2006 •German

In this black comedy set in small-town Bavaria, 11-year-old Sebastian thinks you can never be too young to be a murderer. He's convinced that he killed his mother on the day he was born and is certain he's already been condemned to purgatory. Deciding he might be able to knock off a few years of his sentence by doing good deeds, Sebastian sets out to find a wife for his father Lorenz. When Lorenz and Sebastian's schoolteacher Veronika fall madly in love with each other, it seems the heavens must be smiling. There's just one hitch: Veronika is married.

Elections Day

October 2007 •Russian

The employees of a radio station in Moscow are forced to organize the elections campaign for a future governor in one of Russia districts.

Halloween Ends

October 2022 •English

Four years after the events of Halloween in 2018, Laurie has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.

Radioland Murders

October 1994 •English

A series of mysterious crimes threatens the existence of a new radio network.

Pontypool

March 2009 •English

When disc jockey Grant Mazzy reports to his basement radio station in the Canadian town of Pontypool, he thinks it's just another day at work. But when he hears reports of a virus that turns people into zombies, Mazzy barricades himself in the radio booth and tries to figure out a way to warn his listeners about the virus and its unlikely mode of transmission.