office during most of the shooting. "The production bought Jean his first real art supplies and gave him his first real studio, which he lived in," said Gina Nanni, widow of O'Brien. "All of the books that talk about [art dealer] Annina Nosei giving Jean-Michel his first studio, that wasn't actually true. The film production gave him his first studio, and the first paintings that he made were the paintings that you saw him carrying around in the film." Debbie Harry (who plays the fairy princess who gives him money), and her boyfriend Chris Stein, both of the band Blondie, bought a painting of Basquiat’s for $200 after the end of shooting. Production New York Beat was shot over December 1980 and January 1981. The film was funded by Rizzoli, but the movie was abandoned in the mid-'80s due to financial problems. Producer O'Brien resurrected the film after acquiring the rights in 1999 (over a decade after Basquiat's death). It was released in 2000 as Downtown 81 at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The dialogue audio for the film was lost, so actor Saul Williams dubbed the late Basquiat's voice. However, the musical soundtrack, mostly live club performances recorded on location using an RCA 24-track mobile unit, survived. Soundtrack The soundtrack features music by: Jean-Michel Basquiat with Andy Hernandez; Basquiat's own band, Gray; John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards, DNA, Tuxedomoon, the Plastics, Marvin Pontiac, Kenny Burrell, the Specials, Chris Stein, Melle Mel with Blondie, Liquid Liquid, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, Vincent Gallo, Lydia Lunch, Steve French and Suicide. Many of the recordings were of live performances, but DNA and Tuxedomoon were recorded in the studio for the soundtrack. Reviews After it premiered as "Downtown '81" at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, reviews were mostly favorable. Variety called it “an extraordinary real-life snapshot of hip, arty, clubland Manhattan in the post-punk era.” A rare movie review in Artforum said, "Basquiat is a joy to watch. He floats through the movie with cool grace and unflagging energy; he's a natural in front of the lens..." British art critic Adrian Searle wrote that "Downtown 81 captures that New York moment when punk, emerging rap, art school cool and the East Village art and music scenes were at their creative best.” While the main appeal of the film seems to have been the art and music, some