After six years of filming and months of post-production, Bing Liu completed his passion
project. Liu’s documentary, Minding the Gap, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January. At the festival, Liu won the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking.
Liu, a Guilford and Rock Valley College alum, was ecstatic when he received his acceptance to Sundance. David Courier, a Sundance Film Festival programmer, contacted Liu to deliver the news.
Sundance was founded in 1978. At the time, it was held in Salt Lake City and was called the Utah/US Film Festival. The idea was to attract filmmakers to Utah and to promote American independent filmmaking. Sundance tries to give the public the best of both worlds with regards to film: the big name, award-winning movie world and the small indie film world. the festival is a good way to sniff out the first traces of Oscar buzz while also getting a peek at issues that motivate filmmakers and audiences. Films that are chosen to play at Sundance must be independently produced, meaning they are usually available for acquisition at the festival. When discussing Sundance, Liu stated, “The festival was a big crazy blur–a lot of things going on and so much talent and industry there. But the most memorable experience was seeing audiences respond to the film and to have Zack and Keire and my family experience the power of their stories as well.”
Minding the Gap, takes place in the gritty blue-collar Rockford, Illinois. The documentary is comprised of a myriad of skate videos intercut with deep character driven conversations. Liu skates alongside his good friends as they journey through skate parks, abandoned parking garages, and life itself. At the core of the story are 3 main subjects: Keire, a 17-year-old African American trying to find work in the city; Zack, a 23-year-old, who faces many peaks and valleys within his relationship with his girlfriend while they struggle to raise their newborn child; and Liu himself.
The documentary drifts through events in their everyday lives. It highlights conversations between the subjects that question their intentions with life. They discuss how dealing with the past while trying to push towards the future is one of the hardest things to accomplish. While watching the documentary, it becomes evident that all three of the men have been seeing similar changes and effects with their families. Both Kiere and Liu were subjected to abuse by their father figures. They concealed their inner pain for years until Liu suggested that they face their past. Sadly, Zack turns out to be abusive toward his girlfriend. Liu pushes deeper, confronting his own mother about her ex-husband and watching Zack’s home life fall apart. Liu showcases a blunt and realistic montage of moments that follow these events.
“It’s definitely a story I was born to tell–it’s the culmination of everything I’d experienced
growing up coalescing and accreting into a story that allowed me to understand and grow not only as a filmmaker but as a human being,” said Liu. The effect that this documentary had on the director himself, and the two other men vary. They all agree that their stories should shed light on domestic violence and any sort of abuse in general.
Kiere was ecstatic to see his friend’s stories told all across America. He said, “ Working
on this documentary with Bing was one of the best things I could have done. It has given me closure and the opportunity to meet many amazing people. Seeing the impact the film has on people gives me hope for the troubled men and women in Rockford, Illinois. I think the film will break the emotional barriers that a lot of people put up to protect themselves from talking about issues of domestic violence, abusive relationships, and other common issues here. Seeing this on the big screen was something I never thought would happen when Bing originally approached to do an interview was I was 15.” Kiere hopes that his story can create conversation about topics that hide in the shadows.
Zack, however feels like there were some misrepresentations in the documentary. He stated, “He (Liu) wanted to make an entertaining and dramatic movie and although he didn’t lie at all, he stretched ideas.” This raises the question, are their unwritten rules on how to edit a documentary? Zack later added, “It is a great film, he did a wonderful job and if I didn’t know, me — i’d love it.”Bing believes that the filmmakers’ most important job is to make the audience feel empathy and to give them the opportunity to learn something new. You must take the audience on a journey that they will remember. Bing found out that there are many outlets to succeed in the film industry if one works hard and persists. Liu also states that to stay nourished as a filmmaker, one has to find the strength, sacrifice, and emotional sustainability to make art without having monetary or gatekeeper validation.
Liu recalls that he never thought that filmmaking could turn into a career for him until he got his first production assistant job at the age of 19. When he found out he could get paid $250 dollars a day, he then quit both his job at Target and a local pizzeria. Liu completely dove into the field. If Liu could change one thing about the film industry, he would push for more government support in the arts. Like the film industry in the UK, Canada, and Denmark, government support would create a space where filmmakers can take risks and tell stories outside of the commercial-driven market. They can tell boundary pushing stories. Rockford plays a subtle role in the documentary, Liu didn’t want it to be overbearing or overt. It’s more like the setting plays a role in the lives of the characters that are followed.
Rockford played a huge role in Bing’s life, and now that he is living in Chicago, he misses the people most. His group of friends and the people he met skating is something he never took for granted. The Guilford alum was only in physics club while attending the high school, and his love of film cultivated from making short skateboard videos. He then put that intrigue to the test when he started attending Rock Valley College. There, he took classes in the Mass Communication Department. “I had a lot of fun doing projects and working with classmates. I definitely enjoyed and appreciated my time there. It was the first time I’d been able to create something that was formally critiqued. And faculty like Brian Shelton, Shawndra Bateson, and Jerry LaBuy were really encouraging and supportive,” added Liu.
The effect this documentary will have on Rockford is unknown but one thing is certain,
the success of someone who was so close to this area only shows the positives that this area can provide. It is a huge testament to the Mass Communication Department at Rock Valley College, Guilford High School, and Rockford in general. “It’s inspirational to see someone from the same department I work in go on to achieve such a high level of success. It makes me feel like I’m a few steps away to finding my own success,” said Nate Talan, the lab technician in the Rock Valley College Mass Communication Department.
Liu’s future is bright in the filmmaking industry, and Minding the Gap is just the
beginning. At the end of the day, Liu is grateful that his documentary strikes a chord with a large audience. He says that he certainly never expected the response when he first set out to make the film, he only envisioned renting out a movie theater and inviting some friends.
