In a region where 39% of young people under 30 live with diabetes or pre-diabetes, BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE SIDEWALK focuses on a public health battle being waged at the local level -- against the harmful beverage industry and the over consumption of sugary drinks. In cities across the US -- from Philadelphia to Oakland -- and in countries like Mexico, soda taxes on beverage distributors have been used to support community-based health education
"These sons and daughters of farmworkers, of domestic workers – most of them barely 18 years old – are our future leaders. They are learning to lead by doing, by organizing and by fighting for what they believe in. Adelante!" -- Dolores Huerta, American labor leader and civil rights activist
Join the Conversation!
Helen De Michiel as well as participants in the Between the Sun and the Sidewalk will discuss the process of producing documentaries in new ways and across platforms on social justice issues
Wednesday, April 5
7 p.m.
Park Auditorium
The event is hybrid. De Michiel and collaborators will be on Zoom. The audience will be in Park Auditorium in person.
ABOUT THE FILM
BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE SIDEWALK follows two fiercely dedicated young Latino political organizers leading a team of new recruits to mobilize their community to support a sugary drink tax. When the state government passes a stealth law to ban all local soda taxes until 2030, these young activists fearlessly battle the corporate lobbying efforts to block them.
In their goal to ignite a grassroots movement for health justice, the young organizers, Christian and Aurora, are undaunted. Tested during their fight for democracy and the right to vote on local issues, the film’s heroes overcome doubt, fear and powerful resistance as they dare to fight back against the goliath American beverage industry.
This story of hands-on community organizing reveals how, through collective participation at the grassroots level, people can make meaningful change that benefits everyone.
