When Howard Brookner lost his life to AIDS in 1989, the 35-year-old director had completed two feature documentaries and was in post-production on his narrative debut, Bloodhounds of Broadway. Twenty-five years later, his nephew sets out on a quest to find the lost negative of Burroughs: The Movie, his uncle's critically-acclaimed portrait of legendary author William S. Burroughs with sound recorded by Jim Jarmusch and cinematography by Tom DiCillo. After a lengthy search, Howard's extensive archive is found in Burroughs' bunker, opening a window onto New York City's vibrant creative culture from the 1970s and '80s.