William S. Burroughs Movies

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

Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in...

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...

"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...

UCLA Student Film, Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A striking documentary shot cinema verite style of the 1968 Democratic National...

F.M. discovers that different sonic frequencies induce different patterns of behaviour in listeners, first in his own studio but later in the local...

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

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...

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.

An exhaustive examination of cut-ups, the control machine, and the algebra of need figure in this epic found-footage adaptation of Burroughs’s...

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...

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

An exploration of Burroughs’ life story, as told by Burroughs himself along with many of his contemporaries, including Allen Ginsberg, Brion...

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...

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...

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

Maria Beatty's documentary exploring the insights and influences of the American Beat Poets. The film conveys their consciousness and sensibility...

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...

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

The last words of the gangster Dutch Schultz form the starting point for this animated documentary. The FBI noted these words down on Schultz’...