Harvest

Saying goodbye to the ones we love is perhaps the most difficult part of life. The end of one's life has never been an easy thing to watch, and therefore has rarely been documented as well as it is in the very real and sincere narrative HARVEST. Josh is a college student who sacrifices his last summer with friends to spend it with his vivacious grandfather Siv who is dying from cancer. Though at first Josh is against the idea of three boring months away from his girlfriend, by the end of the film he has learned many lessons about the importance of family and what it means to let someone go. The story successfully captures the immense pain Josh's mother and two uncles must go through as they care for both their father and their critically senile mother. The authenticity of its characters is what truly makes HARVEST an unforgettable film. The dysfunction of this family – which has suffered divorce, depression, greed, and now the ugliness of cancer – creates a strong sense of connection to real life and the idea of waiting to die. The film asks the difficult question of why many wait until the end of their lives to live the way they had always wanted. Forgiveness, family, love, memories. These are the things we take with us. – M.M.