Harvest Party at Camp Two

Young Punjabi-Sikh laborers in California unite for a day of revelry while navigating the intricacies of belonging and assimilation.

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Funding Initiative
Short-Form Series and Special Projects
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Co-Director

Rajan Gill

Rajan Gill is a writer-director, professor, historian, and farmer who grew up in the agricultural fields of California. His work explores the many facets of immigration through an intimate and poetic perspective. Rajan is a 2023 Artist in Residence at SFFILM and winner of the 2023 Tasveer Film Fund.  

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Co-Director

Reaa Puri

Reaa Puri is passionate about collaborative and transformation-oriented storytelling. Her work explores identity, kinship, and home. She’s a TEDx speaker and co-founder of Breaktide Productions. Her creative practice is informed by her queerness, Kashmiri-Sikh heritage, and upbringing between Berkeley, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kuwait.

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The Film

Harvest Party at Camp Two is set in the serene California orchards of Yuba City, a place that has not always embraced newcomers. 

The film delves into the lives of its Punjabi-Sikh laborers during the 1980s, including Kash, Karm, and Bill, who were raised in a culture that prizes work over leisure. They now yearn for connection amidst the isolating and unwelcoming spaces of their new home. Unable to attend their local prom, they secretly plan the Harvest Party in an act of quiet rebellion. The festivities are transformative, and the feeling of liberation and community triumphs over societal divisions.

Harvest Party at Camp Two memorializes the resilience, identity, and shared stories of Punjabi Sikhs in California. The film weaves together historic images with present-day scenes, illustrating the region’s transition from rural orchards to urban landscapes in a visual diary of California. The documentary becomes an archive of the accompanying societal evolution, celebrating the challenges and contributions of Punjabi-Sikh laborers.

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