Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat

As a counterpoint to the countless saintly and iconic portraits of the painter, Boom for Real focuses on the five years before Jean-Michel Basquiat became an artworld superstar. A ground-level view of the artist as a person, not a legend, this transporting documentary also offers a compelling glimpse of the downtown New York art and film scenes of the late 1970s. Told by Sara Driver, herself a staple of those heady scenes, the film is filled with archival footage and interviews with Basquiat’s friends at the time (many of whom are now famous as well), including musician Fab 5 Freddy, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, writer Luc Sante, and others. (78 mins., DCP)