Downtown '81

A vibrant, episodic portrait of downtown New York's artistic underground, capturing a day in Basquiat's life through anarchic encounters, performances, and the bohemian energy of a creative community.

The film is a day in the life of a young artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who needs to raise money to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. He wanders the downtown streets carrying a painting he hopes to sell, encountering friends, whose lives (and performances) we peek into.