Watch Out For: Dare To Be Different

Chances are that most festival-goers needing a break might be familiar with Ellen Goldfarb’s documentary, if you haven’t seen the film, from different perspectives of a creative aftermath.

Documentary/95 Min/USA/English

Directed by Ellen Goldfarb

When WLIR 92.7, the independent radio station in Long Island, New York, changed their music format in 1982 to a unique modern rock mix of punk and new wave, they ended up creating a musical revolution that had ripple effects throughout the country and a lasting musical influence around the world. As the first radio station in the U.S. to play such ground-breaking bands as U2, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, even Prince and Madonna, these pioneering taste-makers inspired other radio stations to create similar experimental formats as well as broadened America’s musical tastes. More than just a nostalgic trip down musical memory lane, this documentary is a fascinating glimpse into a sub-cultural zeitgeist and also an entertaining primer to the politics of radio regulations and the F.C.C. Features interviews with Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Debbie Harry, Nick Rhodes, and other artists and DJs who made the revolution happen.

Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Ellen Goldfarb and former W.L.I.R. DJ Scott “DJ Bird” Peacock.