Margaret To (Director), Eldon Arena (Cinematographer), Jahnavi Mange (Executive Producer), Ankur Shah (Executive Producer), Rachel Allen (Producer) | 2024 | 15 min.
2026 Official Selection
From a community garden in Compton addressing food apartheid, to an Indigenous tribal biologist reviving traditional plant medicine, to a revitalized alleyway-turned-food-forest in Fullerton, these stories highlight powerful grassroots movements reclaiming food systems and building local resilience across Los Angeles.
Margaret To is a Hong Kong multimedia artist and filmmaker based in unceded Tataviam and Chumash territory (Santa Clarita). Her passion in climate activism led her to starting Studio SAKA, a social impact & climate-focused creative studio. She has directed short films for TED-Ed, Greenpeace, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, The Nature Conservancy, and Re:wild. She co-leads the LA chapter of Climate Designers, a global community of creatives dedicated to climate action. She also co-created the Urban Farmers’ Almanac, an interactive guidebook for sustainable living in LA.
Eldon Arena is a Filipino-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He started his filmmaking journey as a cinematographer in 2013 in the wedding industry. He is the co-founder of Studio SAKA, a social impact & climate-focused creative studio. His latest project, From Soil To Soul, is a documentary series exploring the journey to restore food sovereignty, where the pilot episode was screened at Bioneers Conference, LA Climate Week, Ceres Food Film Festival, USC Eco Film & Media Festival, and more. His goal is to continue using film to tell meaningful stories around the world.
Jahnavi Mange is a transformational catalyst fostering leadership and compassion for climate solutions and social innovation based in Muwekma Ohlone territory (San Jose). With expertise in sustainability & regenerative strategy, permaculture, strategic foresight and community-building, she has worked with grassroots organizations, local government and global corporations to drive equity and environmental impact. From Soil to Soul to her means a personal journey to regenerate and restore love, our relationship with land, empowering collective healing, promoting food justice & equity through the medium of storytelling, systems thinking, regenerative practices and building global communities.
