CIVL-FM Premiere’s CRFC-Funded Doc - 20 years in Fraser Valley Counterculture

CIVL Radio invites you to RSVP for the premiere of ‘COUNTERCULTURE: 20 Years of CIVL Radio in the Fraser Valley’ on Saturday, April 5th at CEP Chilliwack, as part of UFV’s 50th anniversary alumni weekend. 

Film Logline: University students in the early 2000s begin broadcasting countercultural programming from a scrappy, campus radio station in B.C.’s conservative Fraser Valley – sparking a new era of arts, culture, thought and community in the region. 

Starting at 12 pm on April 5th, CIVL staff, volunteers and board invite you to join us in Chilliwack at UFV’s CEP campus, kiddie corner from the brand new repeater tower awaiting approval to broadcast permanently at 92.3 FM in Chilliwack. Refreshments, musical performances and a panel discussion hosted by filmmaker/journalist Kier Junos, funded by UFV 50, will be part of the celebration, as we showcase the development of Canada’s youngest campus radio station, first incorporated as a BC Non-Profit Society in June 2005. 

CIVL Executive Director Aaron Levy: “Scholarly research, publications and promotional initiatives have endeavoured to illuminate the work of campus radio for decades, but this feature documentary aims to be the first comprehensively documenting the context, impact and importance of 40+ years of community and campus radio in Canada, through the lens of Fraser Valley residents and UFV students’ contributions as the youngest campus on FM nationwide.” 

This documentary explores the history of Abbotsford’s local DIY punk music community, it’s struggle to support local arts and culture, and to provide outlets and engagement for youth and students in the area, going back to a time before the Abbotsford Centre was a hockey arena; before UCFV became UFV; and before there was campus radio in the Fraser Valley. Through the voices of CIVL founders, board members, UFV professors, local musicians, former CIVL staff and volunteers, as well as campus and community radio personnel from all across Canada, this documentary aims to shine a light on the need for media literacy, accessibility, community engagement, mentorship, freedom of expression, and the challenge of being a small grassroots group in the midst of massive institutions in the 21st century. 

CIVL’s 20th anniversary documentary project was initiated as a Community Radio Fund of Canada Radiometres grant in 2020 for $50,000, with the goal of documenting the successes, struggles, unique position, and history of UFV’s Campus and Community Radio Society, on the eve of expanding its FM service to Chilliwack, and has been evolving as work continues towards that goal. To date, CIVL has invested approximately $75,000 towards the doc. 
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Finally, while CIVL’s final CRTC approval for 92.3 FM remains forthcoming at this time (stay tuned for updates), after ISED approval in ‘24, the April 5th celebration will also launch acceptance of submissions for the 10th annual Fraser Valley Music Awards at fvma.civl.ca 

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