2026 (USA) 95 minutes
Directed by: Viridiana Lieberman and Quin Wilson
Jean-Michel Basquiat burned brightly in his 27 years—and still does in a legacy both artistic and personal reflected in this touching and at turns heartbreaking and buoyant documentary (the only one officially approved by Basquiat’s estate and family) centered around reminiscences by the painter’s surviving sisters, Lisane and Jeanine. The siblings relate stories of life at home in the family’s Brooklyn brownstone, their brother’s early interest in drawing, and the difficulties that arose when their parents separated. To augment these memories and catalog his rise in the art world, the film employs exceptional archival footage and key voices of contemporaries, including Fab 5 Freddy, Kenny Scharf, and Arthur Jafa. As these artists express what Basquiat meant to them and to the downtown NYC demimonde, Lisane and Jeanine speak to how affable, kind, gregarious, and flawed their sibling was. The result is very much a multidimensional portrait of the artist, but even more, the portrait of an endlessly fascinating man.
2026 Tribeca Film Festival – Best Editing
2026 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards – Nominated Best Documentary
Incline Village Cinema – December 5 – 1:30pm