This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with documentarian Bing Liu. Liu’s debut feature film, Minding the Gap, 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 best of 2018 lists, will be playing as part of TIFF Next Wave.

Liu discusses how he used skateboarding as a gateway to making his own films, the different iterations of Minding the Gap, and why he decided to insert his own backstory into the film’s narrative.

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.