HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD asks and answers many of the perplexing questions that swirled around the life and decline of Syd Barrett, founding member, initial songwriter and leader of the world famous rock group Pink Floyd. Was he a drug casualty of the sixties? Did he walk away from the pressures of the commercial music world? Did he suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness? Pink Floyd were caught in the epicenter of the ‘underground’ explosion of the 60s as the psychedelic house band of the UFO club in London, with Syd Barrett its enigmatic figurehead, inspiring such musicians as David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Though he named the group, wrote the first two hit songs and was the lead vocalist and guitarist, Barrett was pushed out of the band by its members who were convinced he was having an LSD induced psychotic breakdown. After leaving the group, Barrett struggled to record two solo records but eventually dropped out of the music industry completely, living as a recluse for thirty years – while Pink Floyd went on to worldwide fame as one of the biggest selling bands of all time. Ironically, much of Pink Floyd’s most noted work (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here) examined themes of genius and madness certainly mourning their long lost friend. HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD is at once a chronicle and a mosaic, an investigation of fame and its personal cost while also exploring the larger social context of the 60s, its hopes and failures, and a compelling story that involves us all in discovery and how one chooses a path in life, measured by the outside world or one’s own inner voice. Co-director Roddy Bogawa (Storm Thorgerson) joins us for a conversation on working with Thorerson, renown artist and long-time friend of David Gilmore, Nick Mason and Roger Waters, separating the truth from the mythology regarding Barrett and what made Barrett’s work with Pink Floyd and his own solo music so intriguing and influential for generations of musicians and artists.
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About the filmmaker – New York Filmmaker Roddy Bogawa completed his Master of Fine Arts at the University of California at San Diego in 1989 and then attended the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art. His filmography includes the features Junk and Some Divine Wind and the shorts If Andy Warhol’s Super-8 Camera Could Talk, Four or Five Accidents, One June…, and The Imagined, The Longed-For, The Conquered, and The Sublime. His films have been shown at the Sundance Film Festival, the Mannheim International Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival among others, as well as the Biennial Exhibitions of the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1993 and 1995, the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, and Wexner Center for the Arts. His awards and grants include the Jerome Foundation Independent Filmmaker Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, American Center Foundation, and The Russell Foundation. His most recent film, Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd delves into the mythology, lies, and the truth surrounding the musician / artist life before, during and after his founding of the legendary rock band Pink Floyd.
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“If you are a fan of Pink Floyd or music from the acid days of the 60’s then this film is a must-watch.” – Crockett Houghton, Film Inquiry
“Roddy Bogawa and Storm Thorgerson must rely on archive footage, music, and extensive interviews with just about everyone whose lives and careers intersected with Barrett, all given chronological structure by Jason Isaacs’ narration.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
“The story is familiar, but it’s never been told in such detail.” – Jem Aswad, Variety
“It’s as comprehensive and coherent an account of Barrett’s counterculture tragedy as one could hope for.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times
“[The film] is an admirable effort that intends to explore the life and career of the charismatic, enigmatic, and psychedelic rocker, an assemblage of diverse materials that seeks to shed light on the dark side of Barrett’s psyche.” – Ayeen Forootan, In Review Online