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Breaking the Silence: Pirate Radio, Black Media, and Voices of Resistance (15*)

Rebel Radio

Rewinding the Airwaves

This programme dives into how Pirate Radio was framed and documented in the '80s and early '90s, as a wave of 'illegal' stations rose to fame.

We move between two key documentaries offering contrasting takes on the rise of Pirate Radio. A 1996 special edition of BBC’s First Sight focuses on Kool FM, featuring footage from the iconic Kool Skool club nights. It frames the debate as a clash between local youth and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), capturing the tensions around so-called illegal broadcasting.

In contrast, a 1984 episode of Channel 4’s Bacchanal, a series spotlighting Black arts in Britain, offers a different lens. It shifts away from narratives of criminalisation, instead presenting pirate radio as a vital form of Black artistic expression, interwoven with the work of other Black British artists and musicians.

Together, these films reflect how Pirate Radio was framed during its emergence and reveal a shifting UK mediascape in the 1980s and '90s.

This is one of two screenings presented as part of Rewinding the Airwaves: An Archive Mixtape of Pirate Radio and Black Media.

With thanks to the BFI National TV Archive, Matthew Harle and Ian Greaves.

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Cinema 2