Chris Knipp
09-15-2025, 11:12 PM
http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/%20pop.jpg
HELEN DE MICHIEL: BETWEEN THE SUNLIGHT AND THE SIDEWALK (2025)
How soda pop kills: students of community organizing in Stockton, California
This unpretentious grassroots film, a little rough, but with a sincere heart and focused on an important issue, is about community organizing against the sweet soda drink industry in the city of Stockton, California. The umbrella group is TOLA, and we follow several groups of trainees as they go door-to-door with a survey to gather awareness and support. Would you support a tax on sugar-added beverages? You should, in particular if you live in the state of California. Sugary drinks cause: heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, cavities, and fatty liver disease. Shockingly, 55% of California residents are diabetic or pre-diabetic. (Yes, diabetes prevalence in California is relatively high compared to other states, though this is another thing not mentioned or stressed.)
There are therefore many people in Stockton whose families have someone in every generations who have died or will doe of diabetes, and we hear from several. Perhaps a greater percentage come from among working class or lower income folks, perhaps a greater percentage of latinos or blacks (though this is not made clear in this film, whose focus is more on on the experience of the organizers people than on the statistics or the politics. What we do grasp is that the soda pop industry is powerful, and is able to hoodwink and control the legislature and the governor. The organizers have no impact on politics. At mos they may have a little influence of local public opinion. After there loss, their leader tells them that they will win in five years, ten years, fifteen years, maybe in a generation: it is a long struggle. TOLA's founder Larry Tramutola worked with César Chavez, and we who have lived in California for awhile know how long his United Farm Workers unionizing struggle was.
Now there is a long struggle ahead to save the general population from the devastation of diabetes caused by consumption of sugar - relentlessly soft sold by a drink industry that is powerful, rich, and indifferent to the devastation it causes. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains approximately 39 grams of sugar, which is equivalent to about 10 teaspoons. (This may vary.) Sugar is cheap, soft drinks are loaded with it, and it is addictive and ultimately lethal. Regular daily consumption of soft drinks can cause healthy, young, athletic people to get diabetes. We hear about one athletic young man who at 29 was shocked to be diagnosed with the disease.
This is the next big struggle. The fight against the tobacco industry has been effectively won. Perhaps this one is even more insidious.
TOLA Organizing Academy's mission is to train individuals and organizations in the fundamental skills of community organizing and civic engagement. The Organizing & Leadership Academy (TOLA) was founded in 2010. The action here takes ;lace apparently in 2017. Unfortunately the soda beverage people, who are a billion-dollar industry, organize an end run during this time and apparently trick the democratic legislature of the state to pass a vote that favors the industry.
This must have been devastating for the TOLA trainees who have been struggling door to door working to gain support. We have seen that they brought meagre results and losing motivation early on. Out of a group of nine, three are eliminated who, apparently, were not deemed community organizer material. We don't exactly learn why, and this is a weakness of the film: it also does not introduce individuals except for a fewl at the top, though we hear from some in the rank and file along the way. I was impressed with one male high school student (never named or directly heard from) who said nothing for several weeks, but then was leading a whole class. We grasp that some people are born community organizers, with an innate gift and drive for the work. They have passion about issues; they are skillful speakers; they know how to draw people in and gain converts without seeming to push. And it is hard, relentless work.
The strength of this little film is its commitment and its grassroots drive. We never lose out awareness that this is about community organizing, the menace of the soft drink industry, and the people of Stockton. But sometimes the camerawork is jiggly or messy. The lens zooms in and out too fast, the camera jerks around. It does the job. It's not likely to win any awards for filmmaking. But for people wanting to learn about these sujects this is a useful source. It is admirable and we need more of this kind of work and more films about it.
Between the Sun and the Sidewalk,114 mins., screened as part of the Albany Film Festival, and it will be shown Thursday, September 18, 2025 7 p.m. at Rialto Cinemas Cerrito Theater in El Cerrito, California. A Q&A with director Helen De Michiel is to follow the screening.
HELEN DE MICHIEL: BETWEEN THE SUNLIGHT AND THE SIDEWALK (2025)
How soda pop kills: students of community organizing in Stockton, California
This unpretentious grassroots film, a little rough, but with a sincere heart and focused on an important issue, is about community organizing against the sweet soda drink industry in the city of Stockton, California. The umbrella group is TOLA, and we follow several groups of trainees as they go door-to-door with a survey to gather awareness and support. Would you support a tax on sugar-added beverages? You should, in particular if you live in the state of California. Sugary drinks cause: heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, cavities, and fatty liver disease. Shockingly, 55% of California residents are diabetic or pre-diabetic. (Yes, diabetes prevalence in California is relatively high compared to other states, though this is another thing not mentioned or stressed.)
There are therefore many people in Stockton whose families have someone in every generations who have died or will doe of diabetes, and we hear from several. Perhaps a greater percentage come from among working class or lower income folks, perhaps a greater percentage of latinos or blacks (though this is not made clear in this film, whose focus is more on on the experience of the organizers people than on the statistics or the politics. What we do grasp is that the soda pop industry is powerful, and is able to hoodwink and control the legislature and the governor. The organizers have no impact on politics. At mos they may have a little influence of local public opinion. After there loss, their leader tells them that they will win in five years, ten years, fifteen years, maybe in a generation: it is a long struggle. TOLA's founder Larry Tramutola worked with César Chavez, and we who have lived in California for awhile know how long his United Farm Workers unionizing struggle was.
Now there is a long struggle ahead to save the general population from the devastation of diabetes caused by consumption of sugar - relentlessly soft sold by a drink industry that is powerful, rich, and indifferent to the devastation it causes. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains approximately 39 grams of sugar, which is equivalent to about 10 teaspoons. (This may vary.) Sugar is cheap, soft drinks are loaded with it, and it is addictive and ultimately lethal. Regular daily consumption of soft drinks can cause healthy, young, athletic people to get diabetes. We hear about one athletic young man who at 29 was shocked to be diagnosed with the disease.
This is the next big struggle. The fight against the tobacco industry has been effectively won. Perhaps this one is even more insidious.
TOLA Organizing Academy's mission is to train individuals and organizations in the fundamental skills of community organizing and civic engagement. The Organizing & Leadership Academy (TOLA) was founded in 2010. The action here takes ;lace apparently in 2017. Unfortunately the soda beverage people, who are a billion-dollar industry, organize an end run during this time and apparently trick the democratic legislature of the state to pass a vote that favors the industry.
This must have been devastating for the TOLA trainees who have been struggling door to door working to gain support. We have seen that they brought meagre results and losing motivation early on. Out of a group of nine, three are eliminated who, apparently, were not deemed community organizer material. We don't exactly learn why, and this is a weakness of the film: it also does not introduce individuals except for a fewl at the top, though we hear from some in the rank and file along the way. I was impressed with one male high school student (never named or directly heard from) who said nothing for several weeks, but then was leading a whole class. We grasp that some people are born community organizers, with an innate gift and drive for the work. They have passion about issues; they are skillful speakers; they know how to draw people in and gain converts without seeming to push. And it is hard, relentless work.
The strength of this little film is its commitment and its grassroots drive. We never lose out awareness that this is about community organizing, the menace of the soft drink industry, and the people of Stockton. But sometimes the camerawork is jiggly or messy. The lens zooms in and out too fast, the camera jerks around. It does the job. It's not likely to win any awards for filmmaking. But for people wanting to learn about these sujects this is a useful source. It is admirable and we need more of this kind of work and more films about it.
Between the Sun and the Sidewalk,114 mins., screened as part of the Albany Film Festival, and it will be shown Thursday, September 18, 2025 7 p.m. at Rialto Cinemas Cerrito Theater in El Cerrito, California. A Q&A with director Helen De Michiel is to follow the screening.