“Radio Unnameable,” the new documentary about legendary radio host Bob Fass, begins with silence — a strange occurrence for a radio program.
There is nothing to supplement the silence, nothing to distract the brain like images or smells. The silence is overwhelming but also beautiful and innovative.
“How do you like that silence?” Fass says in the opening minutes of the film. “You’ll never hear silence anywhere other than WBAI.”
Silence is just one of many things that Fass does differently than other radio. His show is utterly unconventional and has been since it started in 1963. From WBAI in New York, he has broadcast in free-form fashion for more than 50 years, mixing music with guests with calls from listeners, all in their own unique style.
The task of summing up Fass’ massive work is not a simple one. But that is what filmmakers Jessica Wolfson and Paul Lovelace have tried to do with their new documentary “Radio Unnameable.”
At 7 p.m. Sunday, “Radio Unnameable,” along with its two directors, will be at Ragtag Cinema for one night. Wolfson and Lovelace will be available to discuss the film and answer questions after the screening.
While this film can be viewed as simply a nostalgic retrospective of Fass’ life and his accomplishments, it also carries weight for the younger generation who did not live through the ’60s and ’70s and likely are unaware of Fass’ work and presence in the world of radio and activism.
“I think it really does speak to a wider audience, anyone who is interested in radio, in media, in the changing of media landscapes, in activism,” Wolfson says. “Anyone who is interested in the Occupy movement and where that came from — what they were doing is exactly what the Yippies (counter-culture youth activists of the ’60s) were doing.”
Fass has also played a key role in organizing and reporting major events across the nation, from the “Yip-in” held at Grand Central Station, which resulted in a police riot, to the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots and the subsequent famous “Chicago Seven” trial.
Fass sees the film as a chance for young people to learn from his experiences and to help them in their search for the truth as they enter the adult world. He says youth today should learn reverence for the absurd and understand the necessity to dissent.
Lovelace also embraces this opportunity for the audience to gain knowledge from the film and Fass’ career.
“Be willing to take chances,” Lovelace says. “Be willing to let someone speak without knowing what they are going to say or controlling what they are going to say. Free speech and open airwaves can lead to really powerful things.”
The film itself, pieced together over five years, utilized these ideas during production when the directors had a limited budget and an abundance of resources.
“It took a small army just to transfer and listen to the tapes and also find visuals,” Wolfson says.
Fass’ archives were stored at his New York home in the form of thousands of open reels. To be able to access this, musical archaeologist Mitch Blank helped the filmmakers to search through the collection.
“At the very beginning when we met (Blank), he quoted Bob Dylan and said, ‘You’ve got to know your song before you sing it: you’ve got to know what’s on the tapes, you’ve got to know, as much as one can, what is in the collection before you can make your film,’” Lovelace says. “We really took that to heart.”
Since radio relies solely on the sense of hearing to relay all of its content, transforming the reels of sound — and sometimes silence — into a film was a difficult task, Wolfson and Lovelace say. The filmmakers had to create a visual experience without tarnishing the value of the audio.
“What we wanted to do was create an atmospheric visual sense so that you would pay attention more to the audio,” Wolfson says. “When you are listening to the audio and the calls, (we wanted) just to have the atmospheric idea of what it’s like to listen to radio in the middle of the night.”
The directors say they are excited to bring this experience to Columbia this weekend. They have felt welcome when they have shared work here in the past and anticipate an interesting feedback and stories from this audience.
“It has been such an enthusiastic movie-going community in the times that we’ve shown work there that the idea of not showing this there would have been a drag,” Lovelace says.
You can see “Radio Unnameable” in its entirety at 7 p.m. Sunday at Ragtag Cinema. Afterward, you can also listen to Fass’ show, “Radio Unnameable” from midnight to 3 a.m. every Thursday night online at WBAI.org.
