Upcoming

Tending the Wild

Event Details

DATE: February 18, 2026 TIME: 7pm (Doors 6:30pm)

LOCATION: Now Instant, 939 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles

Registration

TICKET PRICE: Free with RSVP Required

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Active Cultures and Now Instant present Seeds, a three-part cinematic meditation on new beginnings, hidden power, and pivotal transformation. 

Seeds are more than sources of nourishment. They hold ancestral memory: essential for preserving biodiversity, food sovereignty, and cultural heritage, resisting colonial displacement and destruction. These tiny vessels are also powerful symbols. Moving beyond the botanical, this artist-led film series delves into life’s eternal cycles, the strength of resilience, the wonder of germination, and the quiet wisdom found in dormancy.

The second film in the series, Tending the Wild (2016), is selected by Andrea Jimenez of Herb Club LA. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Andrea and Joel Garcia, Director of Meztli Projects. Together, they will discuss the film’s themes in relation to their work with people and plants in the local community, as well as reflections on the past ten years since the film was made.

Please note: seating is limited! Doors open thirty minutes prior to the listed showtime. Your RSVP does not guarantee you a seat. Seating is first-come, first-served.

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About the Artists

Joel Garcia
Joel Garcia (Huichol) is an Indigenous artist, cultural organizer, educator, co-founder, and Director of Meztli Projects, an Indigenous-based arts & culture collaborative centering Indigeneity into the creative practice of Los Angeles. In various artistic roles, he has worked with Indigenous communities across borders to support land, access, and self-determination issues....
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Andrea Jimenez
Andrea Jimenez is a community-focused herbalist, naturalist, and visual storyteller dedicated to ecological awareness, holistic wellbeing, and reconnecting people with nature. As the founder of Herb Club LA, she has engaged over 2,000 participants in workshops and events emphasizing herbal medicine, wellness, and land stewardship. Growing up as a first-generation...
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About Tending the Wild

Co-produced by PBS SoCal and the Autry Museum, Tending the Wild shines light on the environmental knowledge of Indigenous peoples across California by exploring how they have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia, in the process developing a deep understanding of plant and animal life. The one-hour documentary special examines how humans are necessary to live in balance with nature and how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to tend their environment.

About Now Instant

Now Instant is a cinema and bookstore in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

Credits

Active Cultures is sustained through the generous support of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; the Vera R. Campbell Foundation; the Getty Foundation; the Jerry & Terri Kohl Family Foundation; the Maurice Marciano Family Foundation; the Offield Family Foundation; Teiger Foundation; James Cohan Gallery; Who Wants To Be A Millionaire/ABC; William Grant & Sons; Active Cultures’ Board of Directors; the Members Circle Annual Fund; Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA); and the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition.