Cameras Roll on Basquiat Biopic ‘Samo Lives’ in New York’s East Village

Summary

• Crews were recently spotted setting up around Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, a neighborhood that was central to Basquiat’s rise
• Basquiat lived and worked in several East Village apartments, leaving his SAMO© graffiti tag scrawled across walls and doors throughout the Bowery

Filming has finally kicked off for Samo Lives, the long-awaited biopic on Jean-Michel Basquiat, after years of quiet since the project’s announcement in 2022. Crews were recently spotted setting up around Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, a neighborhood that was central to Basquiat’s rise as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Directed by Julius Onah—known for Luce (2019) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), the film stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the enigmatic painter. While the full cast has yet to be revealed, early set photos hint that Andy Warhol, Basquiat’s collaborator and confidant, will play a role in the narrative.

The choice of location underscores the artist’s deep ties to downtown New York. Basquiat lived and worked in several East Village apartments, leaving his SAMO© graffiti tag scrawled across walls and doors throughout the Bowery. From 1983 until his death in 1988, he rented studio space at 57 Great Jones Street from Warhol, a building now leased by Angelina Jolie for her Atelier Jolie project, just a short walk from the current filming site.

Samo Lives follows in the footsteps of earlier portrayals of Basquiat’s life, including Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film Basquiat, Tamra Davis’s 2010 documentary The Radiant Child and the cult classic Downtown 81 which starred the artist himself.