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TETLIT'ZHEH/FORT MCPHERSON - Social messaging media like Facebook and Twitter keep a lot of Northerners in touch with family and friends. In Fort MacPherson, an old fashioned form of technology brings residents together in much the same way.

Inuvik-born filmmaker Dennis Allen focused his lens on the community's popular CBQM radio station.

Emma Roberts and Bertha Francis prepare to go live on air in the CBQM studio. - photo courtesy of Bonnie Thompson

He wrote and directed a one-hour National Film Board (NFB) documentary that explores radio's role in listeners' lives.

"It's about how the radio station acts as a moccasin telegraph 2009 and how the community utilizes that radio station to communicate with one another," Allen said. "It's a form of instant communication like Yahoo Messenger. The radio station weaves everything together because it's communicating people's thoughts and their ideas and their wishes and their actions to one another. It's a thread that runs through all their lives."

Allen and a three-person NFB film crew visited the community four times between December, 2007, and July, 2008. They observed the daily drama at the station over the eight-month period. The unconventional documentary does not include staged interviews, just footage of people engaged in the station's real-life operations.

"It's a slice of life film," Allen said. "We followed our characters at the station, at home, on the land and at work."

Familiar faces in the film include popular on-air personalities such as RCMP officer and part-time radio host Peter Froyland and Rev. Sue Oliver, who hosted Heaven Help Me, a regular program through which she shared bible stories and other wisdom before moving to Edmonton last October.

Storytelling is a big part of the station's programming. Neil Colin, known as the Mouth of the Peel because he has a cabin at the mouth of the Peel river and loves to talk, is an elder and master storyteller who uses the radio as his stage.

Old-time country music and fiddle tunes play every day by request. Not surprisingly, there is lots of music in Allen's film.

"It's a type of music you don't hear anymore anywhere else on the radio," Allen said. "You're not going to hear Britney Spears or Brad Paisley or any of those top 40 artists. The music is raw and emotional. The more raw and emotional it is, the more pleasure listeners get out of it."

The Tl'oondig Healing Society, the hamlet office and various government departments use the airwaves to keep residents informed. Bingo fundraisers air three times a week in support of various community events and groups. Bertha Francis, Emma Roberts and lots of other dedicated listeners often contribute local news items, as well.

Robert Alexie shares news in Gwich'in and English from time to time. The band council gives updates on Monday mornings. On Tuesday mornings Winnie Greenland reads news from the Wellness Centre followed by information from the RCMP. School announcements are on Wednesdays and the Healing Society has a show on Thursdays. The Wellness Centre's show runs on Fridays and on Saturday mornings Annie Koe and Brenda Peterson take dedications and music requests. Gospel and hymns air on Sundays.

"I go on once in a while to entertain and share information," said Mary Teya.

Teya used to host a Thursday evening call-in show and a weekly wellness program for the Health Centre before she retired in 1996. Now she fills in occasionally on long weekends or when someone can't make a shift. She filled in for Louisa Kay last Wednesday.

During the station's annual November anniversary show, Teya, Joanne Snowshoe and Hannah Alexie tell humorous stories and take calls from listeners wishing the station a happy birthday.

"CBQM is a very special place," Teya said. "It's all done voluntarily. Nobody gets paid. I really would like to encourage people, especially young people, to continue to keep CBQM going, because when CBQM is not on it's really quiet. I really feel that people should get on board and carry it on. It really keeps people happy. That's what CBQM is all about."

Volunteers with the CBQM Radio Society have run the station since it first launched in 1981. The broadcast reaches beyond Caribou River and Tsiigehtchic on a clear day.

"People out on the land look forward to listening to CBQM," said society board member Hazel Nerysoo. "It's good for all the people in the bush, especially in the spring during breakup. The community really relies on the station. It's the way they get their messages out and it's the way they know what's going on. If there's a death or a tragic event in the community we'll get a radio program together to raise money for the family."

Nerysoo said the community looks forward to seeing the finished documentary.

"It's one way of putting a spotlight on our community," she said.

The documentary is complete, however Allen is in the final stage of licensing the music featured in the film. He expects to debut the film in Fort McPherson in June or July.

The documentary will tour the Canadian film festival circuit this fall, with screenings in Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax.