Originally released as a motion picture in 2010.

Special features: Deleted scenes (6 min.); Home movies [featurette] (17 min); Shotgun art (3 min.); Sonic Youth visit (3 min.); "Naked Lunch" 50th anniversary [featurette] (20 min.); "Rub Out the Word" [music video] (3 min.); "Psalm 23 Revisited" (1 min.); Q and A with director Yony Leyser at BFI Film Festival 2010 [featurette] (12 min.); Oscilloscope releases [previews] (5 minutes).

Editor, Ilko Davidov ; music by Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth, Jesse Smith, Patti Smith, Devin McNulty, The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar, John Bellows, JJ and Bernard ; animation, Aimee Goguen, Dillon Markey ; camera, Carlos Benvides, Eric Burton, Rollin Hunt, Michael Raines, Scott Reis, Michael Schwesheimer, Sam Storn.

Narrated by Peter Weller; commentators, John Waters, Peter Weller, James Grauerholz, Amiri Baraka, V. Vale, Dennis M. Dailey, Ira Silverberg, Laurie Anderson, Victor Bockris, Patti Smith, Marcus Ewert, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Barry Miles, Regina Weinreich, Diane DiPrima, Iggy Pop, Tom Peschio, Wayne Propst, Robert McColl, Fred Aldrich, Patricia Elliot Marvin, Dean Ripa, Anne Waldman, John Giorno, Steve Silberman, David Cronenberg, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Jello Biafra, Hal Willner, Grant Hart; archive footage, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol.

Presented is a tender, vibrant portrait that breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. Burroughs was one of the first writers to break the boundaries of queer and drug cultures in the '50s. His novel Naked Lunch is one of the most recognized and respected literary works of the 20th century and has influenced generations of artists. Bonus features include deleted scenes, home movies, Naked Lunch 50th anniversary celebrations, and more.

William Burroughs: the Beats éminence grise, "literary outlaw," culture hero to generations of poets, musicians, artists, and filmmakers who had their minds blown by his 1959 classic, banned-in-America "Naked Lunch." This film covers his life in a straightforward manner, but the portrait drawn is at odds with the character who wrote in outlandish graphic detail about then-forbidden sexuality in the 1950s and '60s. Heir to a family that lost its money, Harvard-educated and conservative in his attire, Burroughs--despite fame and acclaim--was troubled, reserved, and battled with addiction his entire life. Despite the openness of his prose, this film reveals Burroughs in the contradictions he embodied--a man generously affectionate with friends and acolytes, whose avuncular veneer covered up a haunting, enduring loneliness.

MPAA rating: Not rated.

DVD; Region 0 (All), NTSC; Dolby digital stereophonic; widescreen presentation, 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

In English with optional subtitles in English.