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    Howard Brookner Legacy Project
    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    LOGLINE
    Fulfilling Howard Brookner’s wish to be remembered by his films, his nephew preserves, upgrades, and reintroduces the work and world of this quintessential NYC filmmaker. The project unites scattered archives, turning them into an accessible and durable online platform for audiences and scholars worldwide.

    SYNOPSIS
    Howard Brookner died in 1989 due to HIV/AIDS before the release of his final feature. In 2011, his nephew Aaron Brookner found a letter Howard wrote when he found out about his illness wishing to be remembered by his films. The HOWARD BROOKNER LEGACY PROJECT is an online platform for public access of the work and world of filmmaker Howard Brookner (1954 - 1989), whose camera traced downtown New York’s creative circles and their transatlantic echoes. His preserved archive spans moving images, photographs, scripts, letters, and ephemera and this project turns it into a future-proof resource for general audiences, students, educators, programmers, and researchers.

    From fragile reels and marked pages, unseen behind-the-scenes footage from completed works and unfinished films, this project upgrades all his restored rushes, documents, and images in an online platform to be shown with clear context to be discovered, cited, and taught. Places, collaborators, and moments in Howard Brookner’s life and work will be connected: from New York lofts to European cinematheques, Los Angeles to London, Tokyo and Paris. Viewers will encounter his artist’s circle as a living network rather than a footnote. William S. Burroughs, Robert Wilson, Madonna, Andy Warhol, Frank Zappa, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, Philip Glass, Allen Ginsberg, Derek Jarman, Anne Waldman, and many other icons who crossed Howard’s path and are part of his archive will be included with timelines and maps as guides. His films Burroughs: The Movie, Robert Wilson & the CIVIL warS, and Bloodhounds of Broadway as well as films about him or created with his archive (Uncle Howard, Nova ’78), will have pathways for viewing within or beyond the platform.

    The long-term plan pairs the online access with an appropriate institutional steward for all physical artifacts and papers which have been up to this day preserved and safeguarded by Aaron Brookner.

    PROJECT TYPE Educational Initiative

    PRODUCER Aaron Brookner
    project coordinator Paula Vaccaro

    WEBSITE instagram.com/aaron.brookner

    Donate to Howard Brookner Legacy Project

    🎬 Support independent film through The Film Collaborative

    The Film Collaborative (TFC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting independent filmmakers.

    Federal Tax ID: 32-0295081

    Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

    💳 Ways to Give
    • Online:
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    📄 Tax Receipts
    • In compliance with IRS rules, tax receipts are issued for the amount TFC receives after payment processor fees are deducted.
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    • The “receipt” immediately sent by PayPal is only a payment confirmation — it is not your tax receipt.
    📅 Important Year-End Giving Dates for 2025
    • Dec 19: Most large gifts are decided by the Friday before the holidays.
    • Dec 31, 4:59 PM PT: Cutoff for wire, ACH, and Zelle gifts to be received in TFC’s account.
    • Dec 31: Postmark deadline for check donations.
    • Dec 31, 11:59 PM PT: Cutoff for online credit/debit gifts.

    Thank you for helping bring powerful independent films to life.

    ID: 766