William S. Burroughs doc, featuring fellow counterculture icons, out in late 2010

(AFP PHOTO/DERRICK CEYRAC)

A documentary about William S. Burroughs featuring interviews with Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, and a host of other artists who knew the author, is due out in North American theaters and on DVD in fall 2010, according to a June 2 announcement. A trailer for the film, which is directed by Yony Leyser, is currently available online, and select showings are scheduled in June.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within is a feature-length documentary about the American beat poet and countercultural icon who was known both for his writing and for his drug use and open homosexuality in the 1950s. The film premiered in January at the independent Slamdance Film Festival in Utah and, announced June 2, is now set for release by Oscilloscope Laboratories, the production company of The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch.

The film features a soundtrack by Patti Smith and Sonic Youth, plus interviews with John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg. Peter Weller, who starred in Cronenberg's 1991 film adaptation of Burroughs's best-known novel Naked Lunch, is narrator.

North American audiences will be able to watch the film on PBS-TV, and then in theaters, in fall 2010; a DVD and digital release will follow. Throughout the month of June, individual showings are scheduled in several US cities.

Also due out in fall 2010 is Howl, a biopic about American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg that premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival. Oscilloscope will release that film on September 24.

Find more information, including updates about additional release dates, at: http://www.burroughsthemovie.com