Building the American Dream

SUN OCT 20 | 1:30PM | BLUE ORLEANS THEATER (THE ADVOCATE)
TUE OCT 22 | 4:00PM | BLUE ORLEANS THEATER (THE ADVOCATE)

Filmmakers in attendance.

In Texas, the economy is booming due to lower taxes and lighter regulations that leave immigrant construction workers vulnerable to exploitation. As a result, workers are losing wages—and sometimes losing their lives—and companies are well aware. Building the American Dream confronts the unjust reality that countless workers face by interweaving stories of three immigrant families affected by wage theft or deadly working conditions. Despite the looming threat of deportation in a fear-driven political climate, these families refuse to give up hope. Fighting bureaucratic laws that have left workers unprotected, they attempt to live under the contradiction of an American Dream that excludes those who build it. -EM

Preceded by How to Breathe in Kern County
USA | 2019 | 9 Min
DIR: Chris Filippone

As the workday grinds to a halt, a gathering of street racers makes way for the backroads of Bakersfield to find catharsis.

Sponsored by The Helis Foundation and Studio WTA in loving memory of Wayne Troyer

This screening is free thanks to the generous support of The Helis Foundation.