Burroughs: The Movie explores the life and times of controversial Naked
Lunch author William S. Burroughs, with an intimacy never before seen
and never repeated. The film charts the development of Burroughs’ unique
literary style and his wildly unconventional life, including his
travels from the American Midwest to North Africa and several personal
tragedies. Burroughs: The Movie is the first and only feature length
documentary to be made with and about Burroughs. The film was directed
by the late Howard Brookner. It was begun in 1978 as Brookner’s senior
thesis at NYU film school and then expanded into a feature which was
completed 5 years later in 1983. Sound was recorded by Jim Jarmusch and
the film was shot by Tom DiCillo, fellow NYU classmates and both very
close friends of Brookner’s.
