EDUCATION
BRING BACKSTREET INTO THE CLASSROOM
THE AMERICAN DREAM, EXAMINED
A bilingual, cross-cultural portrait of race, labor and class in modern-day America, following entrepreneurs from two radically different worlds as they pursue their slice of the American pie.
Nationally distributed to educational institutions through New Day Films, the award-winning documentary Backstreet to the American Dream brings questions of immigration, labor, class, entrepreneurship, media representation and economic opportunity into classrooms and communities.
Through two contrasting paths to the American Dream, the film moves between survival and success, visibility and invisibility, and the informal economy and the mainstream marketplace. It explores how people from opposite worlds define and pursue their own version of the American Dream and invites students to examine how social constructs and media visibility shape circumstances, opportunity and success.
FILM VERSIONS
100 min
DIRECTOR'S CUT
The filmmaker’s complete vision, ideal for community screenings and in-depth conversations.
90 min
BROADCAST CUT
A feature-length version prepared for broadcast and festival programming.
EDUCATIONAL EDITION
Immigration and Ethnic Studies | Labor Studies | Sociology | Business and Entrepreneurship | Media Studies | Women’s Studies | Spanish and Latin American Studies
54 minute
Classroom Cut
4 MODULES
Course Modules
12-PAGE STUDY GUIDE
Lesson Plan & Resources
FIVE-day lesson plan
Ideal for teaching across disciplines, Backstreet to the American Dream uses street food as a bridge to explore immigration, labor, class, entrepreneurship and the informal economy. Educational licensing, streaming and speaking engagements are available through our national educational distributor, New Day Films. Preview the Study Guide’s Table of Content using the button below.
BACKSTREET IN ACTION
Trinity University | San Antonio, TX Sept. 21, 2022
Following its award-winning run at the 2022 San Antonio Film Festival, Backstreet to the American Dream reached Trinity University for campus-wide and classroom screenings.
Higher Ed Hive | Portland, OR, May 7, 2026
My mom came along for the Backstreet screening at Portland’s Higher Ed Hive Conference, a regional gathering of educators and practitioners in the Pacific Northwest.
Mariscos Jalisco | East L.A., CA, Sept. 24, 2026
Graduate students from Frankfurt’s Goethe University bring their exploration of immigration, labor and the American Dream to East L.A. and into a conversation with Patricia Nazario at Mariscos Jalisco with founder Raúl Ortega, who is featured in the documentary.
Cal Poly Pomona | Pomona, CA, Sept. 28, 2022
Professor Álvaro Huerta, a professor featured in Backstreet to the American Dream, hosted a campus screening that sparked conversations about labor, identity and economic justice.
Chicano Resource Center | East L.A., CA, Aug. 3, 2024
The Chicano Resource Center’s screening of Backstreet to the American Dream received special recognition from the City of L.A. and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for its exploration of immigrant experiences, entrepreneurship and the American Dream.
Texas A&M University–San Antonio | San Antonio, TX, Sept. 24, 2022
Hosted by the university’s Society for Human Resource Management, a free screening of Backstreet to the American Dream brought filmmaker Patricia Nazario to campus for a conversation about immigration, labor and the pursuit of the American Dream.
EXPLORE THE FILM
Explore Backstreet to the American Dream through downloadable materials for educators, programmers, journalists and community partners.
RESOURCES
DOWNLOAD
“Backstreet to the American Dream is the intersection between immigration, workers’ rights, social justice, and the informal economy. It’s the kind of film I love to show my students at the beginning of the quarter, so they understand the issues we’ll cover.”
— Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, Project Director, UCLA Labor Center