Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man

New York in the late 70s: the arch, anti-establishment energy of CBGBs punk spreads like a virus through the East Village art scene, with hipsters as likely to pick up a cheap Super-8 camera as a guitar or saxophone. A number of eager collaborations between filmmakers, musicians and performance artists are spawned, and a scene tagged No Wave evolves, with the likes of Jim Jarmusch, Lizzie Borden and Susan Seidelman emerging from it. On into the 80s, and contempt for Reaganite conservatism inspires Nick Zedd's Cinema of Transgression Manifesto, proposing, among other things, 'to go beyond all limits set or prescribed by taste, morality or any other traditional value system shackling the minds of men'. The likes of Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch and Casandra Stark enthusiastically sign up. Celine Danhier's authoritative, thorough account of post-punk underground filmmaking in NYC celebrates a time and place where there were no rules, and where artists were encouraged and supported by their peers, those peers being, essentially, their audience. Contributions from key players are numerous and fascinating, as are the clips from the seminal, hugely influential work they produced. Michael Hayden

Face Addict tells the story of a unique and unrepeatable experience, that of the artistic community in New York between the late '70s and early '80s known as the downtown scene. From this scene emerged artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Jim Jarmusch, Deborah Harry, John Lurie and many others. With them Edo Bertoglio shared many experiences and passions. F ace Addict, a walk-movie following the thread of memory, tells about the past and present lives of Bertoglio and other protagonists of the downtown scene, through personal reminiscences and original footage and photographs. In this journey toward the rediscovery of New York 20 years later, on the traces of a time long gone and a scattered community, Bertoglio is accompanied by his friend Walter Steding, Andy Warhol's ex-assistant, avant-garde painter and musician. The soundtrack of the film is by John Lurie, Evan Lurie and Franco Piersanti.

The exploits of maverick tagger Zoro (real life graffiti artist Lee Quinones) are followed in WILD STYLE, whose work attracts the attention of an East Village art fancier who commissions him to paint the stage for a giant Rapper's Convention. A document of the earliest days of hip-hop in the boroughs of New York, everything in WILD STYLE is authentic (the story, style, characters and most of the actors), are drawn from the community. It features a pantheon of old-school pioneers, including Grandmaster Flash, Busy Bee, The Cold Crush Brothers and more.