About the Film
Claudia Galeno-Sánchez spends the summer turning her Chicago home into a butterfly sanctuary and planting milkweed around the city. An environmental activist and community member in Pilsen, Chicago's Mexican neighborhood, she is on a mission to save the Monarch butterfly, a species heavily under threat. She is the Founder & Executive Director of Women for Green Spaces. Sueños de una Monarca brings viewers alongside Galeno-Sánchez's relentless work to save the butterfly, which is a symbol of home, family and freedom.
As Claudia always says, change will happen one plant, one garden, one school at a time. Now more than ever, we must sow our seeds of impact to save this beautiful species, and blossom this movement of conservation and community across North America.
The Story Behind the Story
Sueños de una Monarca was born in a DePaul University classroom during my final semester as an undergraduate documentary film student. [Placeholder — full story coming soon.]
Meet the Crew
Julián Trejo Bax
Visual Journalist
Julián Trejo Bax is a Mexican-Belgian visual journalist based in Chicago and Mexico City. He specializes in stories at the intersection of climate change, immigration and human rights. He currently works as a freelance video journalist for the Associated Press filming and producing climate and environment related stories in Mexico. Julián also partners with human rights and environment defending grassroots organizations in Mexico as a documentary filmmaker. Inspired by the monarch butterfly's transcontinental migration, Julián is dedicated to stories that bridge borders and inspire communities across North America.
Natalia Trejo Bax
Editor
Natalia Trejo Bax is an Associate Editor at FCB Chicago, where she cuts commercials for broadcast and social media. Along the way, she has had the chance to work on campaigns for brands like Clorox, Cottonelle, Poise, and Kingsford. Outside the agency world, she focuses on documentary editing and color grading. Some of the projects closest to her heart are short documentaries that highlight stories within Hispanic communities in Chicago. With a Mexican and Belgian background, she has always been drawn to different perspectives and the ways storytelling can bring people together.
Alonso Vidal
Multimedia Journalist
Alonso Vidal is a Peruvian multimedia journalist, documentalist, writer, and photographer who focuses on immigration, cultural identity, housing, and social justice, often spotlighting underrepresented communities. He is a Toni Stabile fellow at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, where he recently completed his master's degree. He is currently a reporting fellow for PBS FRONTLINE.
Dylan Martis
Animator
Dylan Martis is a filmmaker who specializes in marrying impressionistic painting and traditional character animation. He has worked for major studios as well as indie film projects, and strives to create an authentic vision tailored for each and every project.
Jack Hoac
Graphic Designer
Jack is a Vietnamese graphic designer based in Chicago, IL. He creates thoughtful brand identities and visual systems that connect strategy with storytelling. His multidisciplinary practice spans branding, typography, motion, and illustration, crafting expressive experiences across both physical and digital spaces.
Karina Rivero
Composer
Karina is a composer, orchestrator and music producer from Mexico City. She has worked as a composer for independent films in North America and Europe, and in the production of orchestral albums, such as Mi Ciudad, from the Typical Orchestra of Mexico City and Mitote from Pasatono Orchestra. Her music has been performed by various orchestras and ensembles, such as the Vórtice Ensamble, the Stokłosa Collective Orchestra and the European Recording Orchestra. She's the co-founder of the Mexican School of Music for Film and has taught at college level at Tecnológico de Monterrey. She has received recognitions in contests such as the Young Talent Award (finalist, Krakow, Poland), Berlinale Talents (Latin America campus) and the Score Live Composer Competition (second runner-up, Spain).
Zach Scheitlin
Sound Designer
Zach Scheitlin is a sound designer specializing in creating immersive, story-driven audio for film, media, and creative projects. With a strong ear for detail and atmosphere, he crafts soundscapes that enhance emotion, rhythm, and narrative impact. Zach's work blends technical precision with creative intuition, supporting stories from subtle realism to bold, expressive design.
Div Sangani
Crew
Bio coming soon.