Harvest of Peace

Harvest of Peace is a 1985 American short documentary film directed by Robbie Leppzer. The film, shot during the height of the US-backed Contra war in Nicaragua, follows a group of 150 Americans who spend two weeks in a village in northern Nicaragua, where they participate in a cotton harvest.
Harvest of Peace premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September 1985, where it screened on a double bill with another documentary, Nicaragua Was Our Home, directed by Lee Shapiro. Harvest of Peace received its theatrical release in November 1985.

Production

Harvest of Peace was created, directed, and edited by Robbie Leppzer. Production on the film began in the autumn of 1984, which was shot over a two-week period in Nicaragua. Following filming, Leppzer returned to his home in Leverett, Massachusetts, where he spent nine months on audio editing and fundraising for the film. Post-production continued for an additional five months, which Leppzer spent as "a prisoner to his editing table." The film ultimately cost $20,000 to complete, and was financed by individual supporters as well as grants from small private foundations.

Reception

Reviewing the film following its TFF premiere, Catharine Rambeau of the Detroit Free Press referred to both it and Nicaragua Was Our Home as "classic knee-jerk-liberal graduate theses. Politics deserves better."