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William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays, and five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences; he was initially briefly known by the pen name William Lee. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, made many appearances in films, and created and exhibited thousands of visual artworks, including his celebrated "Shotgun Art".
Description above from the Wikipedia article William S. Burroughs, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Writing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 2.795 |
Birthday | 1914-02-05 |
Place of Birth | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
Also Known As |
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1966
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Chappaqua
6.9/10
Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in Sa...
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Chappaqua
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2009
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FLicKeR
6.8/4
In 1960, Brion Gysin invented the Dream Machine, a hypnotic light device with the power to induce hallucinations, drugless highs, and revolutionize hu...
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FLicKeR
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2010
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William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
6.6/25
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.
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William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
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2018
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Take Your Pills
6.526/136
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?
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Take Your Pills
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1994
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Relics: Einstein's Brain
6.7/8
Documentary about Kenji Sugimoto, professor in Math and Science history at Kinki university in Japan. He has spent the last 30 years publishing works...
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Relics: Einstein's Brain
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1989
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Bloodhounds of Broadway
5.7/23
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 Hort...
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Bloodhounds of Broadway
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1991
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Wax, or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees
6.833/15
Computer programmer/beekeeper Jacob gets a "television" implanted in his brain by a race of telekinetic bees, which causes him to experience severe ha...
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Wax, or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees
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1999
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Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles
1/1
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 o...
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Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles
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1984
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The Final Academy Documents
8/1
Documentation of the showcase titled 'The Final Academy', filmed on October 4, 1982 in The Haçienda, Manchester. Video 1 features the movies "Towers O...
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The Final Academy Documents
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1984
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Decoder
6.2/39
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...
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Decoder

1994
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September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill
0/0
Filmmaker Larry Weinstein stages a wide range of performances in tribute to the compositions of Kurt Weill.
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September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill

1989
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Twister
5.5/36
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...
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Twister

2008
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Obscene
5/4
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"...
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Obscene
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1963
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William Buys a Parrot
6.1/11
A bizarre silent short film showing author William S. Burroughs negotiating to buy a parrot.
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William Buys a Parrot
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1993
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The Junky's Christmas
6.7/19
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 spir...
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The Junky's Christmas
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1986
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Ornette: Made in America
6.3/10
Shirley Clarke's frenetic documentary about multi-talented musician Ornette Coleman.
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Ornette: Made in America
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1994
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Glitterbug
6.3/11
A collage of Derek Jarman's super 8 footage spanning over 20 years.
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Glitterbug
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2000
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Condo Painting
0/0
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 cou...
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Condo Painting
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1972
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Bill and Tony
5.9/6
Experimental film by William S. Burroughs and Antony Balch
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Bill and Tony
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1963
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Towers Open Fire
6.7/11
Antony Balch tackles key themes and ideas from the writing of William S. Burroughs in a unique, cinematic style.
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Towers Open Fire
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1982
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Ghost at No. 9
8/1
Experimental artistic film which uses the milieu of experimental art with a background of various kinds of sounds and music. (worldcat.org) Posthumous...
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Ghost at No. 9
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1966
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The Cut-Ups
6.8/11
Essentially a dizzying montage of quirky shots of legendary Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs and noted surrealist artist Brion Gysin, this...
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The Cut-Ups
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1986
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Home of the Brave
8.1/9
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...
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Home of the Brave
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1999
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The Source
5.1/12
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 1...
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The Source
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1991
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William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers
6.8/5
An hour-long interview with author William S. Burroughs in which he expounds on American culture, art and morals.
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William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers
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1991
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Thanksgiving Prayer
6.4/12
An indictment ballad of all the different political groups in America.
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Thanksgiving Prayer
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1998
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Destroy All Rational Thought
6.3/3
The great Beat Generation experiments took place in Tangier, the Moroccan city where William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and the Moroccan painter Hamri ta...
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Destroy All Rational Thought

2013
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Coda I + Coda II
0/0
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...
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Coda I + Coda II

2013
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Coda I
0/0
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...
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Coda I
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1992
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Naked Making Lunch
7.1/8
A 1992 documentary about the making of Naked Lunch.
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Naked Making Lunch

1981
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Shamans of the Blind Country
7/1
A documentary epic on magical healing in the Himalayas.
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Shamans of the Blind Country

1979
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Fried Shoes Cooked Diamonds
6.5/2
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. A...
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Fried Shoes Cooked Diamonds

2012
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For No Good Reason
6.9/23
For No Good Reason a film about Ralph Steadman. Johnny Depp guides the visually stunning journey, smashing narrative conventions, moving seamlessly fr...
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For No Good Reason
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2006
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Wanderlust
5/5
A look at the mystique of road movies, combining interviews, film clips, music, photography, literature and a narrative storyline featuring Paul Rudd...
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Wanderlust

2011
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Fix: The Ministry Movie
7/2
Provides an insider's view of the groundbreaking, outrageous, creative juggernaut that was the band Ministry - during their world tour - as front man...
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Fix: The Ministry Movie

1994
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Ah Pook Is Here.
5.9/8
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 Wil...
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Ah Pook Is Here.

2012
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The Beat Hotel
4.5/4
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, whe...
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The Beat Hotel
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2022

Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
0/0
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 w...
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Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
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1976
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Underground and Emigrants
0/0
In this film, outspokenly homosexual filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim has documented his encounters with friends in the New York "underground" arts moveme...
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Underground and Emigrants

2006
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Pantelia
0/0
An abstract exploration of the number 10.
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Pantelia

1984

Burroughs: The Movie
7.2/24
An exploration of Burroughs’ life story, as told by Burroughs himself along with many of his contemporaries, including Allen Ginsberg, Brion Gysin, Fr...
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Burroughs: The Movie
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1981
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Chelsea Hotel
8/1
This TV documentary shows some of the colourful residents of and people connected with the New York Chelsea Hotel. Some highlights include Andy Warhol...
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Chelsea Hotel
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1983
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Pirate Tape
6.9/7
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 legend...
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Pirate Tape
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1981
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Energy and How to Get It
5.8/5
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 R...
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Energy and How to Get It

1976
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Une semaine dans la vie de camarades
0/0
A road movie whose journey intersects with and extends the events of the International Counter-Culture Meeting that took place in 1975 in Montreal. Th...
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Une semaine dans la vie de camarades

1968
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Witchcraft Through the Ages
7.2/8
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...
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Witchcraft Through the Ages
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1989
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Drugstore Cowboy
7.1/546
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, w...
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Drugstore Cowboy

1978
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Thot-Fal'N
5.4/5
This film describes a psychological state "kin to moonstruck, its images emblems (not quite symbols) of suspension-of-self within consciousness and th...
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Thot-Fal'N

2007
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Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs On the Road
0/0
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 Oct...
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Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs On the Road

2015
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William S. Burroughs: The Possessed
0/0
Thelema Now! host Frater Puck discusses William S. Burroughs, possession, synchronicities and chaos magick
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William S. Burroughs: The Possessed

1969
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Cain's Film
0/0
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...
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Cain's Film
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2009
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Nova Express
2/1
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 no...
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Nova Express
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2015
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Don't Blink - Robert Frank
7/14
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...
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Don't Blink - Robert Frank

2003
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The Battle for 'I Am Curious-Yellow'
0/0
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 Obscenit...
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The Battle for 'I Am Curious-Yellow'

1982
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Poetry in Motion
7/1
More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Early in the film, Charles Bukowski talks about the energy of poe...
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Poetry in Motion
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1983
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This Song for Jack
6/1
In 1982, Robert Frank was on hand at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, to film the Jack Kerouac Conference, a 25th-anniversary commemoration...
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This Song for Jack
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1989
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Heavy Petting
5.6/8
Celebrities and creatives -- including musician David Byrne, performance artist Spalding Gray, comedian Sandra Bernhard, radical activist Abbie Hoffma...
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Heavy Petting
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1967
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Poem Posters
0/0
... with real-life portraits of Jayne Mansfield, Frak O'Hara, Ruth Ford, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, William Burroug...
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Poem Posters

1985
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It Don't Pay to Be an Honest Citizen
7.5/2
An ironic New York City thriller involving a mafioso and a restless, witty lawyer.
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It Don't Pay to Be an Honest Citizen

1999
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The Making of Drugstore Cowboy
0/0
Portland, 1988. Filmmaker Gus Van Sant shoots Drugstore Cowboy, the project that will bring he and his collaborators a formidable burst of mainstream...
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The Making of Drugstore Cowboy

2015
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Robert E. Fulton III Edit of Burroughs: The Movie
0/0
After two years of filming, director Howard Brookner brought inventor and photographer Robert E. Fulton III a trunkful of William S. Burroughs footage...
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Robert E. Fulton III Edit of Burroughs: The Movie

1989

Gang of Souls: A Generation of Beat Poets
5/1
Maria Beatty's documentary exploring the insights and influences of the American Beat Poets. The film conveys their consciousness and sensibility thro...
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Gang of Souls: A Generation of Beat Poets

1994
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Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
4.4/127
A girl born with enormous thumbs in the repressive era of the 1950s learns to turn her quirks into assets.
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Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
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2017
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Uncle Howard
6.5/11
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...
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Uncle Howard

2012
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The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye
7.1/14
An intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Grist...
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The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye

1998
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The Book of Life
6.4/34
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.
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The Book of Life
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1968
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Chicago
0/0
UCLA Student Film, Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A striking documentary shot cinema verite style of the 1968 Democratic National...
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Chicago

2015
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William S. Burroughs in the Dreamachine
0/0
Jon Aes-Nihil's experimental documentary about iconic Beat author William S. Burroughs' experiences using a stroboscopic device, known as the dream ma...
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