Fifty years ago, Howard Allen, a student at the University of Southern Maine, stuck a small antenna out the window of his room in Anderson Hall on the Gorham campus and started playing some records. Somehow, it caught on.
Today, Allen’s venture into pirate radio all those years ago has emerged as WMPG, a community radio station that broadcasts an astonishing array of music, public affairs, and cultural programming throughout the state of Maine and the world, 24/7/365, on 90.9 FM and the World Wide Web.
The story of just how that happened, and how the station has become so meaningful to so many people in Maine and beyond, comes to life in a new documentary called, “An Extraordinary Place,” from local filmmaker Tom Bell, who produced the film to commemorate WMPG’s 50 years on the air. Bell also produces a public-affairs show called, “Let’s Connect Greater Portland,” that airs on WMPG on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m.
Bell, speaking at a recent screening of his film on USM’s Portland campus, said he wanted to shine a light on the people who bring WMPG to life.
“There are a lot of characters at WMPG, and they all have this common passion,” Bell said about the hundreds of people who volunteer their time at the station each year. “It’s a community, but it’s hard to see because they all come in one or two at a time to do their show.”
Bell’s film solves that problem. With his knack for storytelling and skilled production, the strength and value of WMPG’s community comes through loud and clear.
The film itself is a rollicking 30-minute production that showcases the people behind the microphone, taking viewers into the heart of the station and its community-first ethos. It is, by turns, laugh-out-loud funny and touchingly poignant.
“There are a lot of problems in the world,” Bell said, “and this film addresses none of them.”
And while that may be true in the strictest sense, it’s also true that the film tells a compelling story about the University of Southern Maine and the importance of finding a sense of place and belonging. And that’s well worth celebrating.
“An Extraordinary Place” will show at the Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland, ME, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at 7pm.