CIVL Radio is celebrating 20 years of 'counterculture' broadcasting in the Fraser Valley, with a screening party just across the street from a brand-new repeater tower. 

The event is taking place April 5 at UFV's Chilliwack campus, as part of the university's anniversary alumni weekend. 

They'll be premiering 鈥楥OUNTERCULTURE: 20 Years of CIVL Radio in the Fraser Valley.' The film documents "university students in the early 2000s begin broadcasting countercultural programming from a scrappy, campus radio station in B.C.鈥檚 conservative Fraser Valley 鈥� sparking a new era of arts, culture, thought and community in the region." 

CIVL staff, volunteers and board members will be on hand at the event, which will also launch acceptance of submissions for the 10th annual Fraser Valley Music Awards. 

Aaron Levy, CIVL executive director, said the documentary will showcase the station in a way never done before. 

"Scholarly research, publications and promotional initiatives have endeavoured to illuminate the work of campus radio for decades," he said. "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鈥� contributions as the youngest campus on FM nationwide.鈥�

He said the documentary explores the history of Abbotsford鈥檚 local DIY punk music community, its 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.

The 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, he said. It uses 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,

CIVL鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.

CIVL is waiting for approval to broadcast permanently at 92.3 FM in Chilliwack, off a repeater tower adjacent to the Chilliwack UFV campus, after approval was granted last year. 

Refreshments, musical performances and a panel discussion hosted by filmmaker/journalist Kier Junos will be part of the celebration, as they showcase the development of Canada鈥檚 youngest campus radio station, first incorporated as a BC Non-Profit Society in June 2005.