ALL THE WAY TO THE PLATE OF THE PRESIDENT. (2018: KCTS9/PBS)

In the green delta of the Skagit River, our Emmy-nominated documentary, "All the Way to the Plate of the President," takes shape. Under the guidance of Nils Cowan and my role as the director of photography, we delved into the lives of the Indigenous farm workers who are the unseen pillars of American agriculture. As the voice of a young mother narrates her day amidst the crops, our film explores the vital yet overlooked community that "makes farms work," as farmer Ray De Vries puts it—a community whose contributions are now at risk due to increasingly stringent immigration policies.

With our compact yet powerful equipment—the Canon C300ii and a Sound Devices Mix Pre 3—we captured the intimate and complex realities of these workers. We documented their daily grind and the personal sacrifices they endure, like family upheavals and financial precarity. De Vries' struggles illuminate the onerous federal regulations that threaten to bankrupt farmers, demanding impossible foresight into labor needs while shouldering the hefty costs of transport and housing for workers. This system tests the resolve of farmers who aim to provide year-round employment, and in turn, maintain a stable workforce whose lives extend beyond the fields.

Our film concludes with a poignant message from the fields to the nation: the agricultural workforce is a linchpin in the country's economy, with an impact that reaches far beyond local markets. As one undocumented worker poignantly declares, their labor is not stealing jobs but sustaining an entire country, including the dining tables of its leaders. "All the Way to the Plate of the President" is more than a film; it's a narrative mosaic of perseverance, community, and the shared dreams of those who toil in the soil, striving for a harvest that feeds millions, from the everyday family to the president himself.