The main focus of the commemoration will be Get All That, Ant?, a documentary made by Anthony Stern, a friend of Syd’s and a fellow art student. Consisting largely of archive footage shot during the 1960s, this labour of love was filmed in Cambridge, London and San Francisco.
With most of the material having never been seen before, the film also includes live performances from The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Donovan, as well as footage of Syd’s various friends and associates including Iggy Rose (the girl on The Madcap Laughs album sleeve) and ex-girlfriends, Libby Gausden and Jenny Spires.
Get All That, Ant? is one of a number of films about Syd Barrett, who would have turned 70 this year, and Pink Floyd and will premiere on Friday October 21 at the Cambridge Guildhall as part of the 36th Cambridge Film Festival which runs from October 20 to October 27.
If that wasn’t enough to please fans of this wayward genius, Cambridge Live has also got together with ISpySydinCambridge.com to offer Syd Barrett-themed walking tours of Cambridge towards the end of the week.
Led by old school friends, Stephen Pyle and Warren Dosanjh, these fascinating tours will take in some of the former Pink Floyd guitarist’s old haunts including the school he attended and his family home.
The film and walking tours are part of a series of events celebrating the life of Syd Barrett, centred around the unveiling of a memorial to the reluctant star – commissioned in collaboration with his family – on October 27 inside the Cambridge Corn Exchange, where his final live performances took place in 1972.
Following the unveiling there will be a live concert entitled ‘Syd Barrett – A Celebration’ featuring Swedish group Men on the Border backed by the Sandviken Symphony Orchestra with lighting from original Pink Floyd lighting designer, Peter Wynne-Willson.
For more information on the film screenings, tribute concert and walking tours, go here.
For more on the late, great Syd Barrett, visit his official website.
