Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here

"Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here" (2012) — watch online on iFILM — John Edginton's documentary on how the band made their most personal record.

"Wish You Were Here" came out in September 1975, right after "The Dark Side of the Moon" had become one of the biggest-selling albums in history, and it could not have felt more different in the making. Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason have all described those Abbey Road sessions as a creative paralysis — unclear what could follow what they'd just done. The album grew from grief for Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's founder, who had been lost to mental illness years before. Then, mid-session, Barrett walked in — barely recognizable. Gilmour has said the room went silent.

Edginton built the film around new interviews with Waters, Gilmour and Mason, archive footage of the late Richard Wright, and a session in which original engineer Brian Humphries revisits the master tapes. "Wish You Were Here" debuted at number one in both the UK and the US; band members still cite it as their personal favorite. Stream "Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here" (2012) online on iFILM.