Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is one of the films I’m most sad I didn’t get a chance to see at Sundance and now a trailer has been released I’m even more excited to see it.
This project is a labour of love by Tamra Davis, who met the artist in 1983, and interviewed him on camera in 1988 (two years before his death at age 27, from a heroin overdose). Davis kept the footage in a drawer until now, not wanting to feel she was cashing in on the tragedy. After being persuaded that the footage was of important historical significance she began to compile the film.
The trailer shows just how intimate the access Davis had due to her friendship with Basquiat and I have my fingers firmly crossed that the perfect use of the song Salt Peanuts is an indicator of what the soundtrack to film will be like (irrelevant trivia: when Dizzy Gillespie performed the song with Charlie Parker at the White House they convinced Jimmy Carter, who used to be a peanut farmer, to come on stage to sing the vocals). The music for the film is being provided by J Ralph, Adam Horowitz and Mike Diamond so no doubt it will be fantastic.
Fortissimo Films picked up the film for distribution so hopefully we’ll get a chance to see it soon and it’s also being shown at this year’s SXSW.
wow can’t wait!
[...] opening gala included a screening of the film Jean Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. It was a beautiful documentary about him that painted his brilliance in a very intimate [...]
I have been so curious about this doc since I first learned of it’s title. Thank you so much for posting a trailer!!! Now I’m absolutely DYING to see it!!! Any idea on a release date?
oh man, once i read about this i got so excited
any idea when its coming out/starting to go around at film festivals?
It started its festival run at Sundance and has been at SXSW since then. There seems to be little news as to future screenings but they’ve now put up a site for the film here – http://www.jean-michelbasquiattheradiantchild.com/
You can see the opening and download extras so that’s something for the time being.
Can anyone tell me which version of Salt Peanuts is used please? Cannot wait for this . . .