Minding the Gap              4 stars

The documentary Minding the Gap takes us to the streets of a working-class neighborhood in Rockford, Illinois where new filmmaker, Bing Liu, puts on display the skateboarding tricks that he and his young friends have mastered. Liu has been collecting footage of his two friends, Zack and Keire since he was eleven and has put their stories together with his own on film. But this is not a movie just about skateboarding. It highlights the lives of these young men in their twenties as they have come of age from childhood in what is described as one of the most crime ridden small cities in America, Rockford, Illinois. The filming was done over several years documenting events in their personal lives. All three subjects grew up in abusive families and in at least one case, have continued that behavior in their own adult relationships. Zack, who is white, is the father of Eliot and is trying to maintain a relationship with the boy’s mother, mostly unsuccessfully. Keire, the only African American had an abusive relationship with his father who has passed away. And Bing, the Asian filmmaker reveals that he and his mother were beaten by his mother’s boyfriend who has also died. The film brings us in close contact with the struggles of the poor working class in America as they grow up and leave childhood behind. In this case we see how the simple sport of skateboarding provides an outlet for these young men. I am glad that Liu was inspired to bring this subject to the screen. The movie was featured at Sundance in 2018 and was nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Award the following year. I encourage you to look it up.