Upside Down tells the tale of Alan McGee and Creation Records, the British independent record label responsible for launching such bands as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and Oasis.

Directed by Danny O’Connor, the film tracks Creation’s evolution, from its inception in 1983 to its dissolution in 1999. The Irish filmmaker took on the project because he believes in Creation.

“I adored the Mary Chain. They were my band and I adored them beyond belief,” says O’Connor, 45. “Then, probably three or four years later, along came Ride and I adored them as well and then along came Oasis about four years after that. It’s like the World Cup, everything works in four year cycles. Admittedly though there was a lot of really good stuff in the interim. I can’t think of a band on Creation that I disliked.”

True to O’Connor’s World Cup theory, Upside Down took almost four years to complete. That’s because O’Connor self-financed the rock doc, interviewed an incredible amount of people involved in Creation’s history and didn’t take any shortcuts, like adding voiceover.

“I absolutely hate narration because it compromises the subject,” O’ Connor says. “It probably cost me two months extra in edits to make everyone narrate it, as opposed to having one voiceover, but the minute you have one individual overriding it is the minute you’ve compromised it. If I can get the key players to tell the story themselves, it takes a bit longer and it’s a bit of a pain in the ass, but ultimately its better.”

Mojo agrees. At its annual awards ceremony last summer, the UK’s bestselling music magazine presented O’Connor with its Mojo Vision award.

“I shared a stage with Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys, Ringo Starr from The Beatles and John Lydon from the Sex Pistols, how surreal do you think that feels?” O’ Connor says. “What a wonderful world to inhabit. We worked long and hard for almost four years to make it, I financed all of it and there was a lot of grief along the way. My night out with Mr. Wilson and Mr. Starr, well it would have been cheaper just to pay them to come around to the house and play.”

Upside Down: The Creation Records Story screens tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at Cinematheque. Local band Haunter will play a set of Creation covers prior to Saturday’s screening. Admission is $8, $7 for student/seniors. All shows are at 9 p.m.