The New York painter Jean-Michel Basquiat didn’t box himself off from other forms, drawing much of his influence from music and interacting with a coterie of Lower Manhattan creatives in the ’80s. These inspirations are featured in Downtown 81, the film by writer and Interview founder Glenn O’Brien, shot by Swiss photographer Edo Bertoglio and starring Basquiat himself. The movie, which first premiered at Cannes in 2000, will return to New York City’s Metrograph on October 25 in a run co-sponsored by Vulture, before receiving a national rerelease by Metrograph Pictures. A so-called “fairy tale” about an artist encountering other Manhattan bohemians as he struggles to make a living painting, Downtown 81 also features Blondie front woman Debbie Harry, Latin disco group Kid Creole and the Coconuts, and Mudd Club owner Steve Mass.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Film Downtown 81 Is Returning to Theaters
