Unpacking Immigration explores the lives of Punjabi immigrant meatpackers whose unseen and undervalued work bridges the crucial missing steps in “the farm to table” concept in food production. This short film, written and directed by Harleen Kaur Bal, shares the story of a longtime Punjabi Sikh meatpacker in California’s Central Valley. The film traces his migration journey, the human toll of meatpacking work, and the fraught notions of home and belonging for working-class immigrants and their families in the “land of opportunity.”

Director Biography - Harleen Kaur Bal

Harleen Kaur Bal is a PhD student of sociocultural anthropology at the University of California, Davis. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersection of work and wellbeing in relation to the South Asian diaspora, particularly intergenerational Punjabis. Her film, Unpacking Immigration, reflects her multifaceted research background by bridging several themes: food production, migration, and labor within capitalism. Harleen believes film and creative multimedia art are powerful community tools that make academic topics more publicly accessible.