About the event

Presented by the Arihanta Institute Vegan Studies Initiative 

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

9 a.m. PST | 12 p.m. EST | 5 p.m. GMT | 6 p.m. CET | 10:30 p.m. IST

Join us for a powerful virtual event featuring the award-winning short film Transfarming Switzerland by We Animals Media. The film highlights Sarah Heiligtag’s innovative approach to animal advocacy, working with farmers to transform their operations into vegan farms and sanctuaries, fostering a compassionate and sustainable future.

Following the screening, join a dynamic panel discussion with the film’s director, Thomas Machowicz, and Arihanta Institute professors Jonathan Dickstein, PhD, lead organizer of the Vegan Studies Initiative, and Christopher Miller, co-founder and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies, based in Switzerland, where the documentary was filmed. Don’t miss this inspiring opportunity to connect, learn, and take meaningful action for a kinder world!

arihantainstitute.org/vegan-studies

PANELISTS

Thomas Machowicz, Director
Thomas Machowicz is a documentary photographer and filmmaker focusing on animal rescue efforts and social issues. He is working on a long-term project, Sanctuary, which documents animals and the people who rescue them. This project has taken him all over the world, including the Russian war in Ukraine.

Thomas considers himself a conduit for stories meant to raise the consciousness of humanity and uses photography, film, lectures and workshops as tools to explore and share the human experience. He also offers yoga and meditation in photography mentorships.

Thomas' work has been published by BBC News, Vox, The Arizona Republic, The Raw Society and We Animals Media. He is a Pro Member of The Raw Society and a regular contributor to We Animals Media. His work has been also featured in multiple animal rights campaigns.

Director Statement
American filmmaker Thomas Machowicz, Swiss photographer and journalist Sabina Diethelm and the Canadian founder of We Animals Media, Jo-Anne McArthur, met at the International Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan, France in 2021. An inspiring encounter that would lead to a fruitful collaboration; Thomas had been documenting people rescuing animals all over the world already, and when they learned about Sarah Heiligtag, a Swiss activist who not only rescues animals but also transforms entire farms across Switzerland into vegan farms and sanctuaries, they were eager to bring her story and work to a wider audience, as it is an unprecedented and visionary approach.

On assignment with We Animals Media, they spent a week accompanying Sarah to different egg, dairy and beef farms that are in different stages of “transfarming” their farms into vegan farms and sanctuaries. It is the farmers themselves, who produce milk, eggs and meat for the population, who often can no longer cope with the system and are looking for a way out of animal farming.

Although both directors lived a vegan lifestyle already, during filming they gained a much deeper insight into what is so problematic about the animal agriculture industry—for the animals, the environment and the farmers themselves.

With her inspiring personality and groundbreaking work, Sarah shows that positive change is possible. This is a story about hope and a future with more sustainable agriculture and less suffering for animals.

Christopher Jain Miller, PhD, Arihanta Institute

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Engaged Jainism and Modern Yoga, and he is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. Christopher is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024), as well as co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY 2025) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020). LEARN MORE

Jonathan Dickstein, PhD, Arihanta Institute

Jonathan Dickstein, PhD, an Assistant Professor at Arihanta Institute beginning May 2023, specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. He received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. Jonathan’s current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies.

Jonathan has published in a wide array of interdisciplinary journals on topics such as veganism and politics, yoga and diet, Jain veganism, and the ethic of nonviolence (ahiṃsa). Jonathan considers himself a scholar-practitioner, having spent many years not only in libraries but also in public advocating for justice for both humans and nonhumans alike. LEARN MORE