Jean-Michel Basquiat’s story has been told many times, but rarely by the people who knew him best. Netflix is changing that.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, a new feature documentary, premieres on Netflix December 11. The film is billed as “a reclamation of what has been lost in the legacy of a globally renowned artist.” It draws on untold memories from his family, never-before-seen works and rare archival imagery to separate the man from the myth.
The documentary had its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival in June, where it won the award for Best Editing in a Documentary Feature.
Quinn Whitney Wilson created and directs the film, her directorial debut. She shares the director credit with Viridiana Lieberman, who edited and co-directed The Perfect Neighbor. Basquiat’s sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, are central to the project, and Travis Kelce is among its executive producers.
“Jean-Michel Basquiat’s legacy is undeniable,” Wilson and Lieberman said in a statement. His sisters said they are “deeply proud to see Jean-Michel’s full humanity brought to light.”
The trailer opens with Basquiat in his own words. “I never went to an art school,” he says. “I just looked at a lot of things, and that’s what I think I learned about art, by looking at it.” From there it moves between the electric energy of 1980s New York and the family who knew him before the fame. “My brother was very protective,” one of his sisters recalls. Others remember a young man whose “mind was constantly in motion” and who was “unapologetically Jean-Michel Basquiat.”
The film doesn’t shy away from the hard parts. “The critics were just so unbelievably racist,” one voice says. “It definitely hurt Jean.” It also pushes back on one of the most repeated parts of his legend. “There’s this kind of rags-to-riches story that he was on this planet without his family,” the trailer says, “and that was not the case.” When an interviewer asks Basquiat whether he’s surprised by his success, he answers simply, “I used to be more surprised.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Basquiat went from spray-painting the SAMO tag across lower Manhattan to becoming one of the most celebrated artists of his generation. He died in 1988 at 27. His influence has only grown since. In 2017, his 1982 untitled skull painting sold at auction for $110.5 million.
The documentary arrives as Basquiat’s story is set to hit the big screen twice. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is attached to play the artist in Samo Lives, a biopic from director Julius Onah, who directed Harrison in Luce. The project has been in the works since 2022. Kid Cudi announced last month that he will write, direct and star as Basquiat in his own film, Jean. He shared an early wardrobe test on Instagram and called the project a “love letter to Jean, the 80s and NY city.” Cudi plans to film in 2027.
With two biopics on the way, the timing of a documentary rooted in the memories of Basquiat’s own family feels right. Before Hollywood reimagines him, the people who loved him are getting the first word.
Jean-Michel Basquiat premieres December 11 on Netflix.
Photo Credit: Netflix
