Sara Driver explores the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and ’80s shaped his vision.

Conveying Basquiat’s personal magnetism, eccentricity and non-stop creativity without romanticizing him, the doc serves as another chapter in the ongoing effort to rescue Basquiat from his own hype. To tell this story, Driver worked closely and collaboratively with her friends and other artists who emerged from that scene: Nan Goldin, Jim Jarmusch, James Nares, Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quinones, Luc Sante and many others. As they participated in the film with their thoughts, period film footage, music, images, and anecdotes of their young friend, they help visually tell the story of Jean-Michel’s downtown NYC–pre Aids, President Reagan, the real estate and art boom, and before anyone was motivated by money and ambition.