Uncle Howard

Uncle Howard is a 2016 documentary film about filmmaker Howard Brookner directed by Aaron Brookner.[1]

Uncle Howard
Film poster
Directed byAaron Brookner
Produced byPaula Vaccaro
Sara Driver
Alex Garcia
StarringHoward Brookner
Aaron Brookner
Jim Jarmusch
Sara Driver
Tom DiCillo
William S. Burroughs
James Grauerholz
Robert Wilson
CinematographyGregg de Domenico
André Döbert
Release date
  • January 26, 2016 (2016-01-26) (Sundance)
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

Director Howard Brookner died of AIDS in NYC in 1989 while in post-production on his breakthrough Hollywood movie. His body of work has been buried for 30 years in William S. Burroughs' bunker until his nephew Aaron Brookner unearths his story and the memory of everything he was.[1]

Production

Production of Uncle Howard began in 2012 when Aaron Brookner began to search for the missing print of Burroughs: The Movie and Howard Brookner's wider archives. The search yielded the print of Burroughs: The Movie (which, following a Kickstarter campaign, was digitally remastered and was subsequently re-released by The Criterion Collection and Janus Films), as well as a wide range of archives that reveal the story of Howard Brookner's life and work.

In February 2013 Uncle Howard (then called Smash The Control Machine) was presented in the Berlinale Talent Project Market, whereupon Jim Jarmusch was announced as executive producer.[2] Aaron Brookner continued to shoot the project through until 2014, up until the special revival screening of Burroughs: The Movie at the New York Film Festival, which united many friends and colleagues of Howard Brookner. Aaron Brookner, Jim Jarmusch, Tom DiCillo, and James Grauerholz took part in a Q&A at the event.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack includes songs by Duke Ellington, Lotte Lenya, Vision Fortune, Lightspeed Champion, Josef Van Wissem, Mogwai, Younghusband, Grimm Grimm, The Pretenders and NEU!. The movie had Barry Hogan, founder of ATP, as a consultant and Frederic Schindler as music supervisor.

Release

On December 2, 2015, it was announced that Uncle Howard would premiere in the US Documentary Competition category at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.[3] It has also been selected to be screened in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.[4]

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 22 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10.[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

References
  1. MacKenzie Wilson (November 19, 2014). "'Uncle Howard' Remembers NYC Filmmaker Howard Brookner". Bowery Boogie. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  2. Birgit Heidsiek (February 13, 2013). "Jim Jarmusch joins Smash the Control Machine". Cineuropa. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  3. Kate Erbland (December 2, 2015). "Sundance Announces Competition and NEXT Lineups, Featuring Returning Favorites and a Secret Director". Indiewire. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  4. "Berlinale 2016: Panorama Special Opening Films, Christine Vachon to Receive Special Teddy Award and Films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  5. "Uncle Howard (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  6. "Uncle Howard Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 7, 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.