BOOM FOR REAL:
THE LATE TEENAGE YEARS OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
DRAMA | ENGLISH | 78 MIN
Receiving its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, filmmaker Sara Driver’s exploration of the pre-fame years of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, offers a window into his life and the City of New York, 1978-81, illustrating how the city, the times and the people around him informed the artist he became and shaped his vision.
A fresh perspective on the movements that touched and inspired him, as well as the influence a bankrupt, violent city had on this seminal artist, the film shows how Basquiat has become, over the years, the ultimate representation of this period, fed by its politics, the rise of both hip-hop and punk rock, race issues and the art scene itself.
DIRECTOR: Sara Driver
FEATURING: Alex Adler, Fab 5 Freddy, Patricia Field, Jim Jarmusch
“pinpoints the moment when the graffiti world pivoted, without knowing it, into the art world”
— THE NEW YORK TIME
“does a thorough job of reconstructing that forgotten city of late-70s New York in which Basquiat came of age.”
— THE GUARDIAN
“Sara Driver’s profile of Jean-Michel Basquiat doubles as a rich portrait of New York City in the 1970s and ’80s.”
— LITTLE WHITE LIES
“pinpoints the moment when the graffiti world pivoted, without knowing it, into the art world”
— VARIETY
FESTIVALS + AWARDS
2017 Toronto International Film Festival
Premiere