reefa – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Jessica Kavana Dornbusch chats REEFA – Sandie Angulo Chen interviews

April 15, 2021April 16, 2023 Sandie Angulo Chen isreal hernandez, Jessica Kavana Dornbusch, miami street artist, reefa, truth-based

In August 2013, 18-year-old graffiti artist Israel Hernandez, who tagged under the name Reefa and aspired to be the next Banksy or Basquiat, died after being Tased by Miami Beach police officers who caught him tagging a commercial wall. Less than a year after Israel’s death, Miami-based filmmaker Jessica Kavana Dornbusch signed on to tell the story of the Colombian refugee’s last summer alive, his goal of making it to New York City and pursuing his artistic dreams, and his love of his tight-knit family.

Reviews

REEFA – Review by Leslie Combemale

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021 Leslie Combemale Israel ‘Reefa’ Hernandez, Jessica Kavana Dornbusch, José Zúñiga, reefa, truth-based, Tyler Dean Flores

Jessica Kavana Dornbusch has penned and directed the film Reefa about young and very gifted street artist Israel ‘Reefa’ Hernandez, who was struck down by Miami police while he was tagging an abandoned building. After four years of intense research and much dialogue with Hernandez’s family, Kavana Dornbusch has crafted a story that is much more a celebration of a joyful, idealistic youth’s life than it is about a senseless, tragic death at the hands of the officers who should have been protecting him.