Plot

This modern-day look at the classic American Dream is done through the quintessential 21st Century entrepreneurial endeavor - food trucks. Backstreet to the American Dream is a deep dive into the birthplace of the $2 billion dollar global industry, Los Angeles. The 90-minute feature profiles two trucks and juxtaposes the experiences of American entrepreneurs and Mexican immigrants. Indeed, these are very different operations in the same city: the gourmet burger truck, Grill 'Em All, is the first season winner of The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network in 2010, and El Pescadito, a mariscos lonchera (seafood truck), that has been parking at the same swap meet in an immigrant neighborhood since 1982.—Patricia Nazario (Filmmaker)

Backstreet to the American Dream is a modern-day look at the classic American Dream, and it's done through the quintessential 21st Century entrepreneurial endeavor - food trucks! This deep dive into the birthplace of the $2 billion dollar global industry, Los Angeles, profiles two trucks and juxtaposes the experiences of American entrepreneurs and Mexican immigrants. Indeed, these are very different operations in the same city: the gourmet burger truck, Grill 'Em All, is the first season winner of The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network in 2010, and El Pescadito, a mariscos lonchera (seafood truck), that has been parking at the same swap meet in an immigrant neighborhood since 1982.

For Cleveland natives Matt Chernus and Chef Ryan Harkins, reality TV popularity quickly becomes overnight rock-star success and social-media stardom. Fans flock to the gourmet burger truck all around town. Contrarily, Doña Guillermina Vella Rio crossed the U.S. border illegally in 1977 to provide for her toddler son back home and does not use social media to promote her business. This grandmother, with salt and pepper hair, relies exclusively on blue-collar immigrants, many of whom have been customers for generations, to sustain her business.

Through rich and vibrant stories of everyday Americans, this 90-minute feature takes the audience on a journey. You'll consider pop culture and family traditions, formal and informal economies, and the unifying quest for the American Dream. Additionally, a four-minute animated open (in English/Spanish/and the indigenous Náhuatl language), scored with native sounds from handmade instruments, traces street food from South L.A. back to Ancient Mexico and reveals many Náhuatl names still used for food to this very day.