Oscilloscope Laboratories debuted the official trailer for Flipside, the documentary follows filmmaker Chris Wilcha as he reflects on opportunities lost and gained while trying to save the New Jersey record store where he worked as a teenage clerk.
Release Date
Directed by Chris Wilcha, Flipside world premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and opens in theaters on May 31, 2024.
Synopsis
When filmmaker Chris Wilcha revisits the record store he worked at as a teenager in New Jersey, he finds the once-thriving bastion of music and weirdness from his youth slowly falling apart and out of touch with the times. Flipside documents his tragicomic attempt to revive the store while revisiting other documentary projects he has abandoned over the years. In the process, Wilcha captures This American Life icon Ira Glass in the midst of a creative rebirth, discovers the origin story of David Bowie’s ode to a local New Jersey cable television hero, and uncovers the unlikely connection between jazz photographer Herman Leonard and TV writer David Milch. This disparate collection of stories coheres into something strange and expansive—a moving meditation on music, work, and the sacrifices and satisfaction of trying to live a creative life.
Reviews
The Hollywood Reporter review called the documentary an ‘inspired look’ writing, “Chris Wilcha‘s new documentary, Flipside, takes on the second challenge to deliver an autobiographical portrait of how a life seemingly of disappointments and failures can be a life well lived. Glimpse Flipside in the wrong moment or from the wrong angle and it can feel a little solipsistic, albeit in a way that will be relatable to many viewers. But taken in totality and with some reflection, it’s a borderline-profound and philosophical expression of satisfaction with everything that is unfinished in life.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Flipside