VisArt After Dark: Don’t miss these incredible films!

A film by Bill Lichtenstein Stay for the Q&A post film via zoom Robert Sennett and Bill Lichtenstein

Since opening in New England this spring, the film has expanded to more than 20 theaters, drawing packed houses and sold-out shows, with audiences often staying long after the credits to talk.

“I watched the movie with awe…”

— Ty Burr, The Boston Globe

“Timely as all hell.”

— Jared Rasic, Source Weekly (Bend, Oregon)

More than the story of a legendary radio station, the film is an entertaining, music-filled journey through rock & roll, journalism, activism, and free expression—whose themes couldn’t be more timely or relevant.

Built from rare photographs, previously unseen footage, and never-before-heard broadcasts, it features unforgettable stories and remarkable early moments: Bruce Springsteen’s first radio interview, Patti Smith’s first live radio broadcast, Jane Fonda and Abbie Hoffman in the thick of the era, and a time when three dollars could get you into the Boston Tea Party to see The Who, the Velvet Underground, or Led Zeppelin on their first U.S. tour.

The film screened at festivals including Cinequest, the Independent Film Festival Boston, and the Woods Hole Film Festival; won Best Documentary at the DC Independent Film Festival; and was later broadcast nationally on PBS stations.

At its heart, this is the story of a radio station that transformed broadcasting through groundbreaking music, fearless journalism, and the counterculture that helped shape a generation. With independent media and free expression increasingly under pressure, audiences leave the film talking about now, not then.

A recent feature in The Bridge called the film “a countercultural tonic for our times”: