William S. Burroughs: A Man Within - Saturday 2.26. on PBS.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within investigates the life of the legendary beat author and American icon. Born the heir of the Burroughs Adding Machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. His novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government. Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer testified on behalf of the book. The courts eventually overturned the 1966 decision, ruling that the book had important social value. It remains one of the most recognized literary works of the 20th century.

The film features never-before-seen footage of William S. Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues including John Waters, Genesis P-Orridge, Laurie Anderson, Peter Weller, David Cronenberg, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Sonic Youth, Anne Waldman, Hal Willner, James Grauerholz, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, V. Vale, Wayne Propst, Diane DiPrima, Dean Ripa (the world's largest poisonous snake collector), and many others, with narration by actor Peter Weller, and soundtrack by Sonic Youth. William Burroughs was one of the first to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and write about his experiences. Eventually he was hailed the godfather of the beat generation and influenced artists for generations to come. But his friends were left wondering if he had ever found contentment or happiness. This extremely personal documentary pierces the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time.

The Filmmaker -
Yony Leyser is a 25-year-old filmmaker living in Chicago, Illinois. He has directed several short films. After being kicked out of film school, he moved to Lawrence, Kansas, and began shooting William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, his first feature film.

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TONIGHT! Thu, Oct 21, @ UCLA Live's Royce Hall - Laurie Anderson - Delusion

Conceived as a series of short mystery plays, Delusion jump cuts between the everyday and the mythic. Combining violin, electronic puppetry, music and visuals, the work speaks the colorful, poetic and imagistic language that has become Laurie Anderson’s trademark. Inspired by the breadth of Balzac, Ozu and Laurence Sterne and employing a series of altered voices and imaginary guests Anderson tells a complex story about longing, memory and identity. At the heart of Delusion is the pleasure of language and a terror that the world is made entirely of words.

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Genre-Bending Artist Laurie Anderson Returns to UCLA Live with ‘Delusion’ Oct. 21

Laurie Anderson returns to UCLA Live’s Royce Hall Thursday Oct. 21 with the Los Angeles premiere of her newest multimedia stage work, titled Delusion.

Marking Anderson’s sixth appearance at UCLA Live, Delusion employs the genre-defying exploits audiences have come to expect from the groundbreaking multimedia artist, combining violin, electronic puppetry, music and visuals. Conceived as a series of short mystery plays, Delusion encompasses Anderson’s colorful and poetic language to tell stories ranging from the mystic origins of the Russian space program to theories of time and speed, tales of mythic ancestors, silence and animals. Backed by a trio of musicians, Anderson performs Delusion’s two main characters, herself and Fenway Bergamot. “The electronically altered voice I’ve used for many years, the one that turns my voice into a male voice, has been gradually evolving onto a more nuanced one,” Anderson says of her Bergamot character. “I’ve written Delusion as a conversation between that voice and my own.” Two pieces from Delusion are drawn from Anderson’s critically acclaimed record, Homeland, released in June 2010. Anderson is known for her innovative use of technology and multimedia as a writer, director, vocalist and visual artist whose works span the worlds of theater, art and experimental music.

Her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world. Delusion was originally commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver and Barbicanbite 10, London. The piece debuted February 17, 2010 at the Olympics in Vancouver. Anderson opened BAM’s 2010 Next Wave Festival in New York this week with Delusion, where it will run through Oct. 3.

Single tickets are on sale now. UCLA Live at Royce Hall, Thursday, October 21 at 8 p.m.

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