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Howard Eric Brookner
(April 30, 1954 - April 27, 1989) USA

Howard Brookner

Director

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Howard Eric Brookner was born April 30, 1954 in New York City and grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. He studied at Phillips Exeter, earned his B.A. from Columbia University in political science, and his M.A. in art history and film at New York University, where for his senior thesis he began what would go on to be the highly acclaimed feature documentary on William S. Burroughs.

In 1987 Howard began production on the American Playhouse/Columbia Studios feature he had written and was directing, Bloodhounds of Broadway starring Madonna, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Rutger Hauer, and others.

Secretly, Howard was battling AIDS, which became exacerbated when he decided to go off his AZT medication to have the strength to finish shooting. The New York Times wrote it "was a race against the clock" as Howard was gravely ill while fighting the studio for final cut and holding readings for his next film Scary Kisses (with new acting talent that included Sean Penn and Tilda Swinton).

He died before Bloodhounds of Broadway was released and was buried on his thirty-fifth birthday. Surrounded by friends and family, he left this quote taped to his refrigerator door: "There's so much beauty in the world. That's what got me into trouble in the first place."

Uncle Howard is a documentary made by his nephew Aaron, a film-maker of some note, too. It is a sensitive, intelligent portrait of gay film director Howard Brookner. It indulges in a little literary excavation, and functions as a window on the mid-1980s New York gay community that was decimated by the Aids epidemic.

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Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/ - https://www.theguardian.com/

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