It started out as a film about rooftoppers.
The risk-takers who pose atop the world鈥檚 tallest buildings, without safety nets or permission, had long been a fascination for filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist. He鈥檇 dabbled in the activity, on a smaller scale in his youth, and was fascinated to learn that it had become a global phenomenon on social media.
One rooftopper who stuck out was Angela Nikolau, notable for being one of the few women operating in the space. She introduced him to Ivan Beerkus, a fellow rooftopper who she鈥檇 begun doing joint posts with. Together, they were fascinating and good on camera.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know what the finish line was,鈥� Zimbalist said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淲e really took a leap of faith on this.鈥�
But in the making of 鈥� ,鈥� now streaming on Netflix, Zimbalist quickly realized that there was something bigger happening with his subjects: They were falling in love.
This, he knew, was the story. The vertigo-inducing spectacle was the backdrop.
And like illegally climbing an under-construction skyscraper, nothing was going to be simple or straightforward about the mission of putting it all together. In total, the small team spent six years making the film, traveling to six countries with Nikolau and Beerkus to capture their attempts to pose on top of the likes of the 1,957-foot (596.6-meter) Goldin Finance 117, in Tianjin, China, and the 2,227-foot (679-meter) Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The film begins in a tense moment in Merdeka: They鈥檙e trying to get to the top undetected. They鈥檙e scared. And their relationship is on the line.
Behind the scenes was the inherent danger of it all: The trespassing aspect takes on a different kind of gravity in strict countries like Malaysia. Add in the difficulties of continuing production through COVID and Russia鈥檚 war on Ukraine, the logistics of filming without distracting, and the constant conversation about trust 鈥� not only between filmmaker and subjects but between the subjects themselves.
鈥淭hey鈥檇 only been doing short form,鈥� Zimbalist said. 鈥淭he idea that we wanted access to all of the stuff in between their perfect, polished, finished poses was a new concept to them.鈥�
Nikolau was already relatively famous by the time Zimbalist got in touch. Born in Moscow to circus performer parents, she began amassing a large social media following by posting photos of herself on the top of buildings in acrobatic poses. Beerkus was too, for his more 鈥渆xtreme鈥� photographs and films. They were both ardently solo acts. But when they started climbing and posing together, around the time when Zimbalist and his team began to follow them, their popularity grew. Prior to the Netflix debut, she had over 730,000 followers on Instagram, and he had over 236,000.
鈥淲e wanted to give it all to this project like we always do,鈥� Beerkus said through Maria Bukhonina, who co-directed the film and translated their interview. 鈥淏ut it was unusual when the cameras started following us everywhere.鈥�
One place they weren鈥檛 being followed, however, was to the top of the spires or cranes. The filmmakers had made an agreement with their families to only go to the base roof with their verit茅 cameras so as not to distract. Those shots were all done by the subjects themselves.
鈥淭hey rigged themselves with body cams and night vision and GoPros and selfie sticks. Ivan鈥檚 a master drone operator. And Angela really started to understand what coverage was,鈥� Zimbalist said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e credited as extreme cinematographers in the film.鈥�
Another essential lynchpin was Bukhonina, who was born in Russia, and became the main conduit to the subjects during the pandemic. She and their small camera crew were on the road with them for years.
鈥淲e felt they were different from other subjects in the extreme space,鈥� Bukhonina said. 鈥淢any athletes like this and in the Red Bull space kind of deny that they have any fear of death. But Ivan and Angela talked about their fears.鈥�
Both filmmakers like to say, this isn鈥檛 a film about the fear of falling from heights. It鈥檚 a film about the fear of falling in love.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if you don鈥檛 make it to the top of Merdeka,鈥� Zimbalist said. 鈥淭he real suspense of this movie is, is Angela going to ultimately choose to trust Ivan?鈥�
In recent years there鈥檚 been several high-profile documentaries chronicling the lives and exploits of extreme athletes and daredevils, including Alex Honnold in 鈥� .鈥� Nikolau and Beerkus ignored the suggestion to watch that one and 鈥淢an on Wire鈥� to get a sense of what a longform documentary was like. Their first foray was watching their own film.
鈥淲e saw how unusual our life is,鈥� Nikolau said. 鈥淲e always thought of ourselves as a normal, typical couple. Seeing that from the side kind of gives us a new perspective.鈥�
Beerkus added: 鈥淲e liked all the choices that the directors of the film made because they were able to grasp the real essence of our relationship and what鈥檚 going on in there.鈥�
In the days after this interview, Nikolau and Beerkus moved from Thailand to New York. They have big dreams to explore other art forms. She likes to paint. He likes to write music.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 put any limits on ourselves,鈥� Beerkus said.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
