His body of work has been buried for 30 years in William S. Burroughs' bunker until his nephew Aaron Brookner unearths his story and the memory of everything he was.

The search yielded the print of Burroughs (which, following a Kickstarter campaign, was digitally remastered and was subsequently re-released by The Criterion Collection and Janus Films), as well as a wide range of archives that reveal the story of Howard Brookner's life and work.

In February 2013 Uncle Howard (then called Smash The Control Machine) was presented in the Berlinale Talent Project Market, whereupon Jim Jarmusch was announced as executive producer.

On December 2, 2015, it was announced that Uncle Howard would premiere in the US Documentary Competition category at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".