Boom For Real The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat

The documentary is a window into the life of the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat and the City of New York, 1978-81. It is a comprehensive look at the movements that touched and inspired him as well as the influence a bankrupt violent city had on this seminal artist. Jean-Michel has become, over the years the ultimate representation of this period. All the many things that were going in the city fed through him - politics, hip-hop, punk rock, race issues and the art scene.

Sara Driver adapted, produced and directed the film version of Paul Bowles' short story, You Are Not I (1982). The film was lost for many years and then rediscovered among Paul Bowles' belongings. It was awarded a restoration grant by the Women's Film Preservation Fund via NYWFT and selected and shown in the Masterworks section of the New York Film Festival 2011.

Her first feature film Sleepwalk (1986) won the prestigious Prix Georges Sadoul given by the French Cinémathèque. It was the opening night film for the 25th Anniversary of the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes and won the Special Prize at the Mannheim Film Festival. In 1993, her second feature
When Pigs Fly starring Marianne Faithfull and Alfred Molina premiered in competition at the Locarno Film Festival.

Driver's other film credits include producer in Jim Jarmusch's Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise, Tom Waits music video It's All Right With Me and co-producer of Uncle Howard by Aaron Brookner. Besides the film career,
Driver also taught directing at New York University's Graduate Film School (1996-98).

DIRECTOR'S FILMOGRAPHY

2017: BOOM FOR REAL The Late
Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat
1993: When Pigs Fly
1986: Sleepwalk
1981: You Are not I (48 min)