Burroughs: The Movie

This one-of-a-kind portrait of the great American writer began as director Howard Brookner’s Senior Thesis at NYU (with his friends Jim Jarmusch and Tom DiCillo on sound and camera, respectively). Shooting and post-production took five years, during which Brookner accumulated multiple hours with Burroughs visiting old hangouts and speaking with unusual candor, as well as interviews with many friends, including Allen Ginsberg, Terry Southern, John Giorno, and Brion Gysin. Brookner would make only two more films before his death from AIDS in 1989, three days short of his 35th birthday. In the years since, Burroughs: The Movie was thought to be lost. The director’s nephew Aaron undertook a lengthy search, which led to the discovery of not just the film but many precious materials found in Burroughs’s old Bowery apartment, otherwise known as “The Bunker.” Aaron Brookner will be present, along with many of his uncle’s friends, to present Burroughs: The Movie and a selection of this newly discovered footage. A real New York event. A Janus Films release.