William S. Burroughs

This Is Buzz (2026)

A mind-blowing music documentary about the first immersive TV show on MTV when MTV was cool. ...

Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious (2022)

We look back at more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation while trying to crack a unique artistic code. Why are people moved to tears when Robert "Bob" Wilson puts minimalistic petrol pumps into a production of Shakespeare's sonnets? Why doe ...

Take Your Pills (2018)

In a hypercompetitive world, drugs like Adderall offer students, athletes, coders and others a way to do more -- faster and better. But at what cost? ...

Uncle Howard (2017)

When Howard Brookner lost his life to AIDS in 1989, the 35-year-old director had completed two feature documentaries and was in post-production on his narrative debut, Bloodhounds of Broadway. Twenty-five years later, his nephew, Aaron, sets out on a quest ...

Robert E. Fulton III Edit of Burroughs: The Movie (2015)

After two years of filming, director Howard Brookner brought inventor and photographer Robert E. Fulton III a trunkful of William S. Burroughs footage to see if Fulton could edit his film. The result was a decidedly experimental 23-minute cut. The director ...

Don't Blink - Robert Frank (2015)

The life and work of Robert Frank—as a photographer and a filmmaker—are so intertwined that they're one in the same, and the vast amount of territory he's covered, from The Americans in 1958 up to the present, is intimately registered in his now-formid ...

William S. Burroughs in the Dreamachine (2015)

Jon Aes-Nihil's experimental documentary about iconic Beat author William S. Burroughs' experiences using a stroboscopic device, known as the dream machine, which simulates the electric pulses of the human brain to elicit hallucinations and dream-like imag ...

William S. Burroughs: The Possessed (2015)

Thelema Now! host Frater Puck discusses William S. ...

Coda I + Coda II (2013)

Peter Gidal's starting point for his 16mm film was a soundtrack that consists of three lines from a 1,000 word story written by Gidal in 1971, read by William Burroughs. Gidal describes the film's 'so-called imagery' as 'a complex of barely visible cuts in ...

Coda I (2013)

Peter Gidal's starting point for his 16mm film was a soundtrack that consists of three lines from a 1,000 word story written by Gidal in 1971, read by William Burroughs. ...

Coda II (2013)

Gidal describes the film's 'so-called imagery' as 'a complex of barely visible cuts in space and time, the opposite of erasure, but nothing so much as visible' ...

For No Good Reason (2012)

For No Good Reason a film about Ralph Steadman. Johnny Depp guides the visually stunning journey, smashing narrative conventions, moving seamlessly from interview to animation and in the finest Gonzo tradition questions of witness and authenticity are chal ...

The Beat Hotel (2012)

The Beat Hotel, a new film by Alan Govenar, goes deep into the legacy of the American Beats in Paris during the heady years between 1957 and 1963, when Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and Gregory Corso fled the obscenity trials in the United States surround ...

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2012)

An intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV +) and their wife and collaborator, Lady Jaye, centered around the daring sexual transforma ...

Fix: The Ministry Movie (2011)

Provides an insider's view of the groundbreaking, outrageous, creative juggernaut that was the band Ministry - during their world tour - as front man Al Jourgensen slips into drug addiction. Ministry made industrial rock mainstream, and along the way their ...

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (2010)

A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer William S. Burroughs, a man considered as cold as an iceberg on a winter night. ...

Nova Express (2009)

An exhaustive examination of cut-ups, the control machine, and the algebra of need figure in this epic found-footage adaptation of Burroughs's 1964 novel, which pits Inspector Lee and the Nova Police against the Nova Mob: Sammy The Butcher, Green Tony, The ...

Joy Division (2009)

A chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band. ...

Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press (2008)

A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversial works like "Tropic of Cancer" and "Naked Lunch" to publication. ...

Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs On the Road (2007)

A portrait of the American Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) based on never-before-seen footage from his visit to Denmark in October 1983, and from his later years in Lawrence, Kansas. After having spent more than a quarter of a centu ...

Wanderlust (2006)

A look at the mystique of road movies, combining interviews, film clips, music, photography, literature and a narrative storyline featuring Paul Rudd and Tom McCarthy. ...

The Battle for 'I Am Curious-Yellow' (2003)

A documentary about the film, I am Curious-Yellow (1967), and how it made it into the USA and changed film in USA forever by breaking the USA Obscenity Codes. ...

Condo Painting (2000)

John McNaughton's spotlight on George Condo and his art. The film, which follows the progress of Condo's large-scale oil painting Big Red over the course of one year, features an appearance by Allen Ginsberg, as well as footage of Condo collaborating with ...

The Making of Drugstore Cowboy (1999)

Portland, 1988. Filmmaker Gus Van Sant shoots Drugstore Cowboy, the project that will bring he and his collaborators a formidable burst of mainstream attention. Starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, and Heather Graham, the film follows a roving quartet of dru ...

Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1999)

One of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, writer, composer and wanderer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) is profiled by a filmmaker who has been obsessed with his genius since age nineteen. Set against the dramatic landscape of North Africa, the myster ...

The Source (1999)

Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chroni ...

The Book of Life (1998)

New Year's Eve takes on new meaning when the Devil, Jesus Christ, and Christ's assistant Magdalena discuss and debate the End of the World. ...

Destroy All Rational Thought (1998)

The great Beat Generation experiments took place in Tangier, the Moroccan city where William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and the Moroccan painter Hamri taught Jack Kerouac, Timothy Leary, and Allen Ginsberg how to live outside the law. This DVD features one of ...

Ah Pook Is Here. (1994)

A disturbingly organic-looking figure speaks to us of life, politics and death as the symbol of the common man toils away. Written and narrated by William S. Burroughs. ...

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)

A girl born with enormous thumbs in the repressive era of the 1950s learns to turn her quirks into assets. ...

Glitterbug (1994)

A collage of Derek Jarman's super 8 footage spanning over 20 years. ...

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (1994)

Visionary, radical, spiritual seeker, renowned poet, founding member of a major literary movement, champion of human rights, Buddhist, political activist and teacher. Extensive archival footage, interviews, and home movies cover Allen Ginsberg's life, acti ...

September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill (1994)

Filmmaker Larry Weinstein stages a wide range of performances in tribute to the compositions of Kurt Weill. ...

Relics: Einstein's Brain (1994)

Documentary about Kenji Sugimoto, professor in Math and Science history at Kinki university in Japan. He has spent the last 30 years publishing works about Einstein and his personality. To complete his works he travels to America to find Einstein's brain. ...

The Junky's Christmas (1993)

Burroughs takes down a book and reads us the story of Danny the Carwiper, who spends Christmas Day trying to score a fix, but finds the Christmas spirit instead. ...

Naked Making Lunch (1992)

A 1992 documentary about the making of Naked Lunch. ...

Wax, or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees (1991)

Computer programmer/beekeeper Jacob gets a "television" implanted in his brain by a race of telekinetic bees, which causes him to experience severe hallucinations. ...

William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers (1991)

An hour-long interview with author William S. Burroughs in which he expounds on American culture, art and morals. ...

Thanksgiving Prayer (1991)

An indictment ballad of all the different political groups in America. ...

Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989)

This musical is based on four short stories by Damon Runyon. In one tale, gambler Feet Samuels sells his body to science just as he realizes that Hortense loves him and that he would rather live than die. In another story, Harriet's parrot is killed, and s ...

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable ne ...

Heavy Petting (1989)

Celebrities and creatives -- including musician David Byrne, performance artist Spalding Gray, comedian Sandra Bernhard, radical activist Abbie Hoffman, and poet Allen Ginsberg-- recall their earliest sexual experiences. ...

Twister (1989)

An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her pre ...

Gang of Souls: A Generation of Beat Poets (1989)

Maria Beatty's documentary exploring the insights and influences of the American Beat Poets. The film conveys their consciousness and sensibility through interviews with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Diane Di Prima, among others. Also weaves in additi ...

Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson (1986)

A concert film directed by and featuring the music of Laurie Anderson, filmed at the Park Theater in Union City, New Jersey, during the summer of 1985. The film includes songs from her 1984 album 1984's "Mister Heartbreak" and selections from her 1983 "Uni ...

Ornette: Made in America (1986)

Shirley Clarke's frenetic documentary about multi-talented musician Ornette Coleman. ...

It Don't Pay to Be an Honest Citizen (1985)

An ironic New York City thriller involving a mafioso and a restless, witty lawyer. ...

The Final Academy Documents (1984)

Documentation of the showcase titled 'The Final Academy', filmed on October 4, 1982 in The Haçienda, Manchester. Video 1 features the movies "Towers Open Fire" and "Ghosts at No. 9", video 2 features Burroughs' readings and performances by John Giorno and ...

Decoder (1984)

F.M. discovers that different sonic frequencies induce different patterns of behaviour in listeners, first in his own studio but later in the local "H-Burger" restaurant where the passive muzak appears to be wiping people's emotions. ...

Burroughs: The Movie (1984)

An exploration of Burroughs' life story, as told by Burroughs himself along with many of his contemporaries, including Allen Ginsberg, Brion Gysin, Francis Bacon, Herbert Huncke, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, and William Burroughs Jr. ...

This Song for Jack (1983)

In 1982, Robert Frank was on hand at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, to film the Jack Kerouac Conference, a 25th-anniversary commemoration of On the Road in which poignantly aging Beats and fellow-traveling authors, activists, and composers (All ...

Pirate Tape (1983)

Derek Jarman's film portrait of American writer William S. Burroughs was shot in September 1982 during his first visit to England to attend the legendary Final Academy events at the South London Ritzy Cinema. These were Burroughs-themed art and performance ...

Poetry in Motion (1982)

More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Early in the film, Charles Bukowski talks about the energy of poets and of a poem. These poets are the children of Walt Whitman and of Charles Olson, incantatory and orato ...

Ghost at No. 9 (1982)

Experimental artistic film which uses the milieu of experimental art with a background of various kinds of sounds and music. (worldcat.org) Posthumously released short film compiled from reels of film found at Balch's office after his death. ...

Energy and How to Get It (1981)

Filmed in Wendover, Nevada, in early 1981, Energy and How to Get It combines documentary and fictional ideas. What began as a documentary film about Robert Golka, an engineer who was experimenting with ball lightning and the development of fusion as an ene ...

Shamans of the Blind Country (1981)

A documentary epic on magical healing in the Himalayas. ...

Chelsea Hotel (1981)

This TV documentary shows some of the colourful residents of and people connected with the New York Chelsea Hotel. Some highlights include Andy Warhol and William Burroughs having dinner; Quentin Crisp pontificating in a blue rinse hairdo on his balcony an ...

Fried Shoes Cooked Diamonds (1979)

After World War II a group of young writers, outsiders and friends who were disillusioned by the pursuit of the American dream met in New York City. Associated through mutual friendships, these cultural dissidents looked for new ways and means to express t ...

Thot-Fal'N (1978)

This film describes a psychological state "kin to moonstruck, its images emblems (not quite symbols) of suspension-of-self within consciousness and then that feeling of falling away from conscious thought. The film can only be said to describe or be emblem ...

Underground and Emigrants (1976)

In this film, outspokenly homosexual filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim has documented his encounters with friends in the New York "underground" arts movement, the better-known of whom are William Burroughs (who says nothing for the camera), Andy Warhol (seen in ...

Une semaine dans la vie de camarades (1976)

A road movie whose journey intersects with and extends the events of the International Counter-Culture Meeting that took place in 1975 in Montreal. This meeting, at the heart of the film, features several important figures of the counterculture in Quebec. ...

Bill and Tony (1972)

Experimental film by William S. ...

Cain's Film (1969)

A film about Alexander Trocchi. Scottish born poet, writer, translator and author of "Young Adam" and "Cain's Book". Part of the film was made at the old Arts Laboratory and includes a discussion with William Burroughs. A portrait of Alexander Trocchi, cov ...

Witchcraft Through the Ages (1968)

A seventy-six-minute version of Häxan, re-edited and re-released in the United States by Metro Pictures Corporation in 1968. It is narrated by author William S. Burroughs, with a jazz score and soundtrack featuring violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. ...

Chicago (1968)

UCLA Student Film, Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A striking documentary shot cinema verite style of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with contrasting film and audio inside the convention center and the protests outsi ...

Poem Posters (1967)

... with real-life portraits of Jayne Mansfield, Frak O'Hara, Ruth Ford, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, Rudy Gernreich, Jonas Mekas and others. ...

Chappaqua (1966)

Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in San Fran. Though initially confusing, as Rooks blends drug-illusion with reality, and cuts color with black- ...

The Cut-Ups (1966)

Essentially a dizzying montage of quirky shots of legendary Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs and noted surrealist artist Brion Gysin, this nearly 20 minute avant-garde short features repeated articulations of such random things as "Hello," "Wher ...

Towers Open Fire (1963)

Antony Balch tackles key themes and ideas from the writing of William S. Burroughs in a unique, cinematic style. ...

William Buys a Parrot (1963)

A bizarre silent short film showing author William S. Burroughs negotiating to buy a parrot. ...

Queer (2024)

In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a meaningful conne ...

The Wild Boys (2017)

Island of La Réunion, in the beginning of the 20th century. Five teenagers commit a savage crime. As punishment, a Dutch captain takes them to a supernatural island with luxuriant vegetation and bewitching powers. ...

William S. Burroughs Birthday Bash (2014)

To celebrate the 100th birthday of America's most audacious writer, William S. Burroughs, Chicago Humanities Festival brings together a motley crew of poets, writers, and musicians. William Seward Burroughs (1914 - 1997) was an American writer and visual a ...

Nova Express (2009)

An exhaustive examination of cut-ups, the control machine, and the algebra of need figure in this epic found-footage adaptation of Burroughs's 1964 novel, which pits Inspector Lee and the Nova Police against the Nova Mob: Sammy The Butcher, Green Tony, The ...

Ma bande magnétique arrière (2009)

The Japanese Sandman (2008)

At once wryly comedic travelogue and heartbreaking tale of love lost, THE JAPANESE SANDMAN is a visual interpretation of a letter William Burroughs' wrote to Allen Ginsberg in 1953, recounting his travels in Central America. Told through Burroughs' wickedl ...

The Last Words of Dutch Schultz (2001)

The last words of the gangster Dutch Schultz form the starting point for this animated documentary. The FBI noted these words down on Schultz' deathbed, in the hope he would betray his colleagues. Here, spoken in the english version by Rutger Hauer, they a ...

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Will Hunting is a headstrong, working-class genius who is failing the lessons of life. After one too many run-ins with the law, Will's last chance is a psychology professor, who might be the only man who can reach him. ...

Ah Pook Is Here. (1994)

A disturbingly organic-looking figure speaks to us of life, politics and death as the symbol of the common man toils away. Written and narrated by William S. Burroughs. ...

The Junky's Christmas (1993)

Burroughs takes down a book and reads us the story of Danny the Carwiper, who spends Christmas Day trying to score a fix, but finds the Christmas spirit instead. ...

Naked Lunch (1991)

Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills J ...

Thanksgiving Prayer (1991)

An indictment ballad of all the different political groups in America. ...

The Black Rider (1990)

Inspired by the German folktale, Wilhelm, a file clerk, falls in love with a huntsman's daughter. In order to marry, Wilhelm must prove his worth as a hunter and gain her father's approval. Naive and desperate, he makes a deal with a devil named Pegleg. ...

The Discipline of D.E. (1982)

"The Discipline of D.E." is a short 16mm film directed by Gus Van Sant. It's based on a story in "Exterminator!" by William Burroughs that at times reads like Buddhist noir: "DE is a way of doing. DE simply means doing whatever you do in the easiest most ...

Taking Tiger Mountain (1982)

Militant feminist scientists brainwash research subject to assassinate the Welsh Minister of Prostitution. Meanwhile World War III is being fought and the USA has been invaded. ...

Ghost at No. 9 (1982)

Experimental artistic film which uses the milieu of experimental art with a background of various kinds of sounds and music. (worldcat.org) Posthumously released short film compiled from reels of film found at Balch's office after his death. ...

Bill and Tony (1972)

Experimental film by William S. ...

Ice Cream (1970)

A short film about a mysterious ceremony, based on an essay by William S. Burroughs. ...

Witchcraft Through the Ages (1968)

A seventy-six-minute version of Häxan, re-edited and re-released in the United States by Metro Pictures Corporation in 1968. It is narrated by author William S. Burroughs, with a jazz score and soundtrack featuring violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. ...

The Cut-Ups (1966)

Essentially a dizzying montage of quirky shots of legendary Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs and noted surrealist artist Brion Gysin, this nearly 20 minute avant-garde short features repeated articulations of such random things as "Hello," "Wher ...

Towers Open Fire (1963)

Antony Balch tackles key themes and ideas from the writing of William S. Burroughs in a unique, cinematic style. ...

William Buys a Parrot (1963)

A bizarre silent short film showing author William S. Burroughs negotiating to buy a parrot. ...