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Minding The Gap

LIU Bing
USA 2018
98 min
V'18

Was mit dynamischer Handkamera als flotter Skateboardfilm beginnt, entwickelt sich schnell zu einem Coming-of-Age-Drama, angesiedelt im ökonomisch heruntergekommenen Rostgürtel der USA. Bing Liu dokumentiert das toughe Leben von drei Jugendlichen, darunter auch sein eigenes als Asian-American in der Provinz. Rassismus, Elternpflichten und kaputte Familien bilden den Hintergrund für ein kinetisches Spektakel mit rabiaten Jumpcuts. Das Skateboard wird zur Metapher für einen möglichen Weg zur Freiheit und ist deshalb, wie es ein Protagonist ausdrückt, „a matter of life and death“. (Thomas Mießgang)

 

Rebellious and misunderstood, three skateboarding friends in Illinois, Zack, Keire and Bing seem like ordinary teenagers. Bing, who directed the film, introduces their friendship on the brink of adulthood, then briefly jumps to age 15, when Keire met Zack the “cool kid.” But blissful boyhood reveals a troubled side: Coming from shattered homes, all three treat sport as emotional escape. “We have to grow up suddenly,” says Keire wistfully when Zack, now in his 20s, has a baby boy. What will the friends’ manhood be like? Will they face the past, or repeat the violent, resentful, hurt behavior they knew as children, at the hands of adults? Bing’s role in this questioning evolves as the film goes on. He confronts Zack over domestic abuse, records Keire mourn his father’s absence, and finds the courage to talk to his own mother about their shared trauma. A personal hybrid documentary, MINDING THE GAP shows that even the most intimate images have the power to think. Through the quotidian flow of days, the friends’ reactions, at first coy and camera-conscious, mature into genuine introspection. The fine editing adds sudden urgency, and poignantly frames the instants of personal revelation. (Ela Bittencourt)

Credits
  • Zack Mulligan
  • Keire Johnson
  • Bing Liu
  • Nina Bowgren
  • Kent Abernathy
  • LIU Bing
  • James Lebrecht
  • Joshua Altman
  • LIU Bing
  • Chris Ruggiero
  • Nathan Halpern
Minding the Gap, Kartemquin Educational Films, American Documentary

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