Recently, Asian Americans are receiving a lot of praise in both film and television. The fact that Asian Americans are becoming more visible is fantastic, but most of these movies just focus on Chinese Americans, which is limiting for other Asians, particularly South and Southeast Asians.
This is what inspired Caylee So’s The Harvest, highlighting the Hmong community, illustrating how similar and yet dissimilar this culture is to what western society considers to be “Asian.”
The synopsis of the movie is that, Thai Moua returns to his family’s home in Southern California after several years of living in San Francisco to find his entire world in chaos.Thai and his family maintain a brave façade while witnessing the debilitating effects of his father Cher’s kidney failure. Thai is torn between trying to please his father and wanting to live his own life, between being a good son and growing up, but most of all, he is conflicted about keeping the cause that has kept him away for so long a secret.
The Harvest addresses the tenacity and endurance of family ties and how they can carry us through even the most trying times in a powerful and sympathetic way.
Doua Moua, who plays Thai and also wrote the compelling screenplay, said in a press statement, “As an actor, I was told my type of Asian does not fit into the narrative of America, which led me to writing narratives that I wanted to tell. I want to redefine what diversity really means and that is inclusion in front and in back of the camera.”
The show stars Doua Moua (Mulan & Gran Torino), Perry Yung (Warriors & The Knick), Dawn Ying Yuen, Chrisna Chhor, Lucas Velazquez, Hua Lee, Alfonso Caballero, Tomas K Thao, Mai Moua, Tsabmim Xyooj, Kue Lee, Chai Yang, ZhongKhang Yang, Mary Ly, Amery K Thao, Anneston Pisayavong, Arianna Rivas, Blake Kevin Dwyer, Greg Yoder, Christine Lin, and Tress Glenn.
The Harvest is not yet scheduled for release.
