Ep. 101: Bing Liu on the Making of ‘Minding the Gap’

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with documentarian Bing Liu. Liu’s debut feature film,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minding the Gap</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, tells the story of three young men (including Liu) in Rockford Illinois, who use skateboarding as a way to cope with their traumatic home lives. The film, which topped several</span> <a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/movies/best-movies.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> best of 2018 lists</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, will be playing as part of</span> <a href= "https://www.tiff.net/films/minding-the-gap/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">TIFF Next Wave</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liu discusses how he used skateboarding as a gateway to making his own films, the different iterations of</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minding the Gap</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and why he decided to insert his own backstory into the film’s narrative.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also talks about how a documentarian knows when their film is done, how he ethically approached making a film about domestic abuse, and his relationship with legendary documentarian Steve James.</span></p>