Kick Out the Jams: The Story of XFM
Aug 31, 2022 | IMDB 6.7
90 min Watch NowDocumentary
Titled after the first-ever song to play on their airwaves, Kick Out the Jams follows the development of XFM from its rebellious pirate radio roots in the early 90’s, through to its official FM radio launch in 1997 as a major platform for launching alternative talent into the mainstream. The doc deep-dives into the struggles and influence of the station which gave rise to the likes of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, whose global hits The Office and The Ricky Gervais Show were originally developed while working at the radio station.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Jack Benny: Comedy in Bloom
35000 Watts: The Story of College Radio
A People’s Radio – Ballads from a Wooded Country
Radio Star - Die AFN-Story
Restrepo
Pirates of the Airwaves
Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM
Jolly Roger
Behind Your Radio Dial
Carbone 14, le film
88.9 Radio Redfern
40 Watts from Nowhere
Sex and Broadcasting
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Ceremony
The Gap
The Last Pirates: Britain's Rebel DJs
When Moyles Met the Radio 1 Breakfast DJs
End of the World
Radio Unnameable
SIMILAR MOVIES
Jack Benny: Comedy in Bloom
IMDB 9 | Oct , 1992
Co-stars and celebrity admirers go through Benny's entire career35000 Watts: The Story of College Radio
IMDB 0 | Jul , 2024
The students behind the mic and the bands they made famous tell the story of the youth and music culture that originated, and later flourished, on the airwaves of American colleges and universities, establishing a new generational voice and a new path to success for many alumni and artists.A People’s Radio – Ballads from a Wooded Country
IMDB 7.2 | Mar , 2021
A People’s Radio – Ballads from a Wooded Country is a carnivalesque portrayal of the Finnish landscape of the soul and abode. The short film is based on the iconic YLE programme “People’s Radio”, and its visual material has been created by the road movie method of driving across summery Finland. The film paints a panorama of what Finland looks like today. Its narration progresses through humour into civic anarchy, ultimately also towards the longing for human connection.Radio Star - Die AFN-Story
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1995
Documentary about the American radio station AFN (American Forces Network), which was founded in 1943 to accompany the American troops in Western Central Europe. In the post-war period, it stood for the American way of life like almost no other station, wherever it could be received.Restrepo
IMDB 7.2 | Jun , 2010
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.Pirates of the Airwaves
IMDB 0 | Jul , 2014
In 1966 a group of determined young men defied the New Zealand government and launched a pirate radio station aboard a ship in the Hauraki Gulf.Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2023
Built out of “a pile of radio junk,” Bethesda, Maryland’s WHFS was a music fan’s dream of a radio station: the place on the dial to hear music listeners loved and new tunes they soon would, all with an anything-goes mentality and an ear for the sounds of social change. This doc pays loving tribute to free-form radio and WHFS’s influence over FM stations across the US from the 1960s to the 1980s. All good things come to an end, and so did the disc-jockey-driven format that WHFS pioneered and made successful, but its legacy lives on. The station’s DJs relate its history with passion in this film that captures the tenor of an era, abetted by reminiscences of performers including Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Jesse Colin Young, and others whose music found its way to ears and minds eager for something more than the same old Top 40 programming.Jolly Roger
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2003
"Jolly Roger" could mean Roger Schawinski. But by definition, a "Jolly Roger" is the classic black pirate flag with skull and crossbones. This documentary tells the unvarnished story of the Swiss radio pirates who emerged in the 1970s. The focus is on Radio 24 in its wild years, when Schawinski's team broadcast from Italy, with the strongest FM station in the world at the time, straight down from Pizzo Groppera, 130 kilometers all the way to the Zurich area. Supported by numerous original documents from private filmmakers and from the SRG archives, the viewer relives the absurd radio war between David and Goliath that lasted almost four years, 24 years after this war between the radio pirates and the state power began on November 13, 1979. The many known and unknown fighters, who rallied behind their Radio Winkelried Schawinski in 1979 to help usher Switzerland into a new media age, remember the good and bad times, the demonstrations and the numerous threatened and actual closures.Behind Your Radio Dial
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1949
Familiar radio voice Ben Grauer leads the viewer on a behind the scenes tour of the National Broadcasting Company studios -- both radio and television -- in Rockefeller Center and Hollywood. The original 25-minute film previewed by network execs and affiliates in the fall of 1948 was cut down to 20 minutes before its first broadcast, reportedly to excise high-profile stars and programs such as Amos 'n' Andy, Jack Benny, and Edgar Bergen that had since left NBC for other networks.Carbone 14, le film
IMDB 8 | May , 1983
Supernana, David Grossexe, Simone Cuisse d'Acier, Jean-Yves Lafesse occupy during three nights of summer 82, with their guests, Radio Carbone locals, one of those numerous « free radio » created in France at this period.88.9 Radio Redfern
IMDB 1 | Sep , 1989
An observational documentary which looks at Sydney’s first community Aboriginal radio station, 88.9 Radio Redfern. Set against a backdrop of contemporary Aboriginal music, 88.9 Radio Redfern offers a special and rare exploration of the people, attitudes and philosophies behind the lead up to a different type of celebration of Australia’s Bicentennial Year. Throughout 1988, 88.9 Radio Redfern became an important focal point for communication and solidarity within the Aboriginal community. The film reveals how urban blacks are adapting social structures such as the mass media to serve their needs.40 Watts from Nowhere
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2025
Frustrated by commercial radio in the ’90s, a music-loving legal secretary builds one from scratch and runs it out of her LA apartment.Sex and Broadcasting
IMDB 6 | Nov , 2014
SEX AND BROADCASTING is a feature length documentary about New Jersey's WFMU, the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders together.Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
IMDB 7.5 | Oct , 1991
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.Ceremony
IMDB 10 | Mar , 2026
From ramshackled Nuxalk Radio in Bella Coola, voices trace the disappearance of the ooligan run revealing a buried history deeper than the river itself.The Gap
IMDB 0 | Sep , 1937
A dramatization to promote the Territorial Army.The Last Pirates: Britain's Rebel DJs
IMDB 10 | Sep , 2017
Rapper Rodney P. presents the story of Britain's second wave of pirate radio DJs. In the 1980s a new generation of pirate radio stations appeared broadcasting from London tower blocks.When Moyles Met the Radio 1 Breakfast DJs
IMDB 0 | May , 2010
DJ Chris Moyles looks at how the Radio 1 Breakfast Show has reflected life in Britain over the past 40 years, as he meets his predecessors in the early morning slot.End of the World
IMDB 5.9 | Apr , 2015
The Mayan doomsday prophecy looms over a dark night in Poland. A late-night radio host takes in calls from citizens expressing their concerns, predictions and speculations on what may happen when—or even if—the sun comes up. Simultaneously, a crisis centre dispatcher fields panicked calls from people experiencing real-life traumatic situations in need of immediate attention. The voices of these callers are interwoven with an intimate therapy session and a wandering taxicab to build a profile of a place where citizens want to be heard. Never showing the callers on the other end of the line, the film creates an aural overview of a darkened city. As the night progresses, the calls continue coming in, revealing the various struggles people are experiencing in dealing with conceptual fears and current woes—all in a world that soon may be over.Radio Unnameable
IMDB 7.6 | Sep , 2012
The story of legendary New York City disc jockey Bob Fass who pioneered free expression on the airwaves with his long running FM program 'Radio Unnameable'.