(via Nova ‘78 Doc Reveals Never Before Seen Footage Of William S. Burroughs)

Uncle Howard: Tributo a un tío

How many great filmmakers have been lost as a result of disease and human catastrophe? That seems to be the question on the mind of documentary filmmaker Aaron Brookner in his debut film, Uncle Howard, a deeply personal piece of work that offers both an introduction (or re-introduction?) to the director’s uncle — a once-burgeoning independent filmmaker who died of AIDS in 1989 at just 31 years of age — and a somber meditation on talent lost.

Howard Brookner was born in New York, raised on Long Island, and graduated with an M.A. in Art History and Film from NYU. His first feature would be Burroughs: The Movie, an acclaimed documentary on Beat poet William S. Burroughs. He got his college buddies Tom DiCillo and Jim Jarmusch to respectively serve as cinematographer and boom guy. The New York Times would later attribute its “comprehensiveness” to  Brookner’s “unusual degree of liveliness and curiosity.” It’s these specific qualities that Uncle Howard most seeks to eulogize.

Here is a very short excerpt video from the Q & A. Jim Jarmusch ask James Grauerholz about William Burrough’s son “Willie”.

https://vimeo.com/108677918