“Light on a Hill” isn’t just a film about the Eaton fire.
As Myles Mastuno’s 30-minute documentary wraps up its run at the Laemmle Glendale, he hopes that people walk away with more than a story about a devastating fire.
The short film chronicles the role Fair Oaks Burger in Altadena played as a center for recovery and resilience following the devastating losses of the Eaton fire. It tells the story of the Lee family – Jung Ja Lee and K. Sun Lee who opened the neighborhood burger spot in the 1980s.
Now owned and operated by the pair’s daughters, Christy and Janet, Fair Oaks Burger survived the devastating Eaton fire, which devastated much of Altadena and the area that surrounded Fair Oaks.
The film first debuted at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in May, went on to play festivals in Sacramento and Austin and is now having its homecoming theatrical run in Glendale.
The film centers on Jung Ja Lee and K. Sun Lee’s journey of immigrating to the U.S. from Korea and pouring every dollar they had into opening Fair Oaks Burger in 1986. At the time, Christy was 7 years old, Janet was 15, and the daughters would spend everyday behind the counter helping their parents run the restaurant.
The two sisters would go on to continue their parent’s legacy and become the owners and operators of the restaurant.
When the Eaton fire engulfed much of Altadena on Jan. 8, 2025, claiming 19 lives and burning 14,021 acres, the Lee sisters had no idea if their restaurant was still standing. After the fire raged through the neighborhood north of Lake Avenue, Janet’s mechanic walked all the way up Fair Oaks Avenue to tell her that the restaurant survived. The video he sent her, as shown in the film, showed Fair Oaks Burger still standing with houses and structures destroyes all around it – a true “Light on a Hill.”
The restaurant became a familiar touchstone for members of the community who had little left after the fire.
“You have something that keeps them grounded,” said Mastuno, who lost a family home in the Eaton fire. “You walk into a coffee shop in Altadena, or anywhere, and it’s that sense of familiarity and a sense of seeing a familiar face you can talk to and say hi, and that’s what Fair Oaks Burger was for some folks and, it’s where you go and see Janet and Christy.”
In the weeks and months following the fire, Janet and Christy hosted free distribution events at Fair Oaks Burger while recovering from the losses of their own homes. Organizations such as the AIDS Health Foundation and We Out Here Altadena found a home at the restaurant.
The film shows how Janet and Christy not only continued their family business, but continued the tradition of serving the community. While navigating the challenges of wildfire recovery, the Altadena community found a home and a source of stability at Fair Oaks Burger.
“It’s surprising how tragedy brings people together,” Janet says in the film.
When he first showed the movie to the Lee family, Matsuno said he remembered how moved they were. The film meant so much to K. Sun Lee that during the opening night showing at the Laemmle Glendale, he sat and recorded the entire movie from the audience on his iPhone.
The film concludes with documenting artist Robert Vargas’ creation of the mural ‘From the Ashes’ on the blank wall of Fair Oaks Burger – showing a young girl picking a flower in one hand and a teddy bear that says “HOME” in the other. With the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, the girl wears a shirt adorned with a collage of uniquely Altadena images: neighborhood horses, Jackie Robinson’s jersey, a farmer’s market basket and the faces of Janet and Christy Lee.
Matsuno said that filming the making of the mural was never planned but came together organically when he saw that he and Vargas had the same goal – telling the story of the Altadena community through art.
As the credits roll, the audience sees short bits of home videos shot by residents throughout Altadena, showing the small moments shared together at home by families in the community. All the footage was from Matsuno’s personal family and friends, he said.
With the film playing close to Altadena, Matsuno has taken the opportunity to host Q and A events at screenings and platform different Altadena organizations. For the final showing on Thursday, there will be a Q and A featuring Matsuno, Janet Lee, Christine Lenches-Hinkel of 301 Organics and Krystal Lopez of We Out Here Altadena – both Altadena-based organizations.
Twenty months on from the fire, after much of the national attention on the tragedy has dissapated, Matusno said he hopes people affected by the Eaton fire continue to feel seen by his film.
“Everybody has their own journey in the sense of having to rebuild – you just never know what someone’s going through, and I can totally see how as time goes on, hope tends to drift further away for some folks,” he said. “I hope that when people see it, they feel a sense of belonging and a sense of community.”
“Light on a Hill” plays daily at 2:35 p.m. until Sept. 17 at the Laemmle Glendale, located at 207 N. Maryland Ave, Glendale, CA 91206.