Howard Brookner isn't a name that many people know. He was a young film-maker in the 1980's who died of AIDS, aged 34. He made a highly acclaimed documentary about the writer William Burroughs and a mainstream movie, "Bloodhounds of Broadway" with Matt Dillon and Madonna but little else is known. Now his nephew Aaron Brookner has made a portrait of his uncle, "Uncle Howard", that reclaims him for posterity. Luckily for Aaron, Howard left a lot of film behind, of his work and of his life and moved in circles that included, not just Burroughs, Zappa and Warhol but film-makers like Jim Jarmusch and Tom DiCillo who were more than happy to talk about Howard. What emerges is a fascinating picture of a talented and beautiful man whose life ended much too soon. It's also a wonderful picture of a society, many of whose inhabitants are no longer with us. It's honest, enlightening and very moving and Aaron Brookner is to be commended for giving it to us.Thursday 26 March 2020
UNCLE HOWARD ***
Howard Brookner isn't a name that many people know. He was a young film-maker in the 1980's who died of AIDS, aged 34. He made a highly acclaimed documentary about the writer William Burroughs and a mainstream movie, "Bloodhounds of Broadway" with Matt Dillon and Madonna but little else is known. Now his nephew Aaron Brookner has made a portrait of his uncle, "Uncle Howard", that reclaims him for posterity. Luckily for Aaron, Howard left a lot of film behind, of his work and of his life and moved in circles that included, not just Burroughs, Zappa and Warhol but film-makers like Jim Jarmusch and Tom DiCillo who were more than happy to talk about Howard. What emerges is a fascinating picture of a talented and beautiful man whose life ended much too soon. It's also a wonderful picture of a society, many of whose inhabitants are no longer with us. It's honest, enlightening and very moving and Aaron Brookner is to be commended for giving it to us.
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