SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- Two graffiti artists, a man and a woman, ply their craft in one of the world’s oldest holy cities, their 21st century messages fusing to ancient walls in Rachel Boyoung Kim’s short documentary Jerusalem If I Forget You, part of the July 19 – August 5 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
South Korea native Kim, 30, a graduate of San Francisco State University’s Cinema program and a resident of the city’s Sunset District, made the documentary in conjunction with the Jerusalem Film Workshop summer program.
The hands-on filmmaking program also introduced Kim to the artistic life of Jerusalem through fields trips to galleries, art centers and the like. It was one such excursion, to look at graffiti art, that inspired Kim.
“Jerusalem graffiti art is very different than graffiti in other cities,” she says. “In San Francisco and New York, it’s more based on pop culture or punk style. In Jerusalem, there is a very strong political and social message.”