Altadena before the fire
A long-term documentary series exploring the history and rebuilding of Altadena.
Currently in production. Please contact us to contribute or collaborate.
A documentary
Ian moved to Altadena just 4 years ago into a rental home on Marigold and Santa Anita, but loved it more than any other place that he’s lived and hoped to stay there forever. Since the fire destroyed his home and entire neighborhood, he’s missed the mountains and diverse community that he was lucky to be a part of.
As a documentary filmmaker, he’s picked up his camera to process the loss and try to save the memories and stories of his neighbors who came to Altadena long before him, and made it into such a special place. He’s assembled a team of talented documentary filmmakers and together they have been interviewing and following the lives of several residents since the fire.
This documentary project is aiming to preserve the history of Altadena and the families who lived there for generations, making it a singular, culturally important home to so many. The team are filming with residents to track how the community came to be: from the indigenous Tongva inhabitants, to an Anglo-American destination, to a thriving African-American community, and how this history will inform future rebuilding and restoration.
While looking to the past, the project will also document the fire event and primarily follow the process of recovery and rebuilding. The project is focusing on a handful of fire survivors over several years, as well as advocates who are working to ensure all Altadenans who want to come home are able to, despite the housing and health/safety challenges the community is facing.
The documentary asks the questions: Will all Altadena residents who lost their homes be able to return once it’s rebuilt, and will it be safe? In years to come, will Altadena be a beacon of hope for survival in the face of climate change, or will it’s unique community be forever altered?
The filmmakers have also partnered with the Altadena Historical Society to aid in conducting interviews for the ongoing oral histories project. Interviews done in collaboration with the historical society will be archived for future generations to review and learn about this pivotal moment. A preview of the interviews were edited together into a short film on Altadena black history for the 2025 Juneteenth celebration. You can view the short film below:
While Ian is a documentary filmmaker by trade, he’s also a community organizer and mutual aid activist, living in LA County for the past 20 years. He has focused much of his filmmaking around education, homelessness, and social activism. His first feature documentary, Reversing the Mississippi (broadcast on PBS), illustrated the work of an urban farming school in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and he has since explored issues around the evolution of public spaces and progression of communities. He aims for this new project to serve as a historical record while also sharing the personal stories of folks who make Altadena irreplaceable today, and tomorrow.
