Nova ‘78

NOVA ’78, co-directed by Aaron Brookner and Rodrigo Areias, is the latest chapter in Aaron Brookner’s fifteen-year project to preserve, restore and bring to the public the work of his late uncle, filmmaker Howard Brookner. Following the acclaimed restorations of Burroughs: The Movie, Uncle Howard and Robert Wilson and the CIVIL warS, NOVA ’78 resurrects the legendary 1978 Nova Convention, a three-day gathering in New York that united William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Zappa, Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and many of the defining voices of the downtown avant-garde. Shot on 16mm by Howard Brookner and Tom DiCillo, with sound recorded by Jim Jarmusch, the footage remained unseen for more than four decades. Drawn entirely from this extraordinary archive, the film places audiences inside the event itself, capturing a singular moment when literature, music, performance and experimental art collided to reshape contemporary culture.