‘Skywalkers: A Love Story’ combines art and death-defying climbing

A still from "Skywalkers: A Love Story" by Jeff Zimbalist, an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

The documentary follows a daredevil couple as they journey to the world’s last super skyscraper to perform a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire

PARK CITY, Utah — A surprising entry in the U.S. documentary competition will have you on the edge of your seat. This 2024 Sundance Film Festival official selection follows two Russian rooftoppers. Their relationship starts out as competitors and develops into a strong loving relationship through the trials of their sport and art form.

The final act of the documentary

A daredevil couple journeys to the world’s last super skyscraper, Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to perform a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire. This couple risks their lives every time they perform one of their artistic climbs. The audience is immersed in their planning, practice, explorations of sites and the final stunts. Prepare yourself to look down hundreds of feet and feel the vertigo.

Jeff Zimbalist tackles the topic of a deadly sport that spread online

The director, writer and producer Jeff Zimbalist became intrigued by people posting daring climbs online. They call themselves rooftoppers. Zimbalist masterfully tells the story of how two individuals become rooftoppers. The audience follows their journey of hope, determination, fear, and desperation all the way to unbridled joy and a deep trust in each other. Zimbalist quickly admonishes the audience: “Don’t try this at home.”

Filming “Skywalkers: A Love Story”

The initial portions of the film, starting in 2016, were pieced together from verified videos of the two main subjects’ individual endeavors. The majority of the filming started in 2022. Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus did much of the filming themselves. The film crew simply could not follow their life threatening and highly illegal climbs. Jeff Zimbalist called Beerkus a “masterful drone photographer”. With a film like this, many legal issues had to be cleared before filming the documentary. Talks with the family of these two Russian rooftoppers also had to be conducted. After the premiere of the documentary, Angela Nikolau did admit that “they would have to come clean with her grandmother.” Angela Nikolau grew up in a family of circus performers, so when her mother was told about her daughter’s movie participation, she simply agreed.

The story Zimbalist tells with his documentary

When Jeff Zimbalist explained his ideas for the documentary to Nikolau and Beerkus, he had to teach them about long form filming. Zimbalist not only takes the audience on a journey of the physical challenges of rooftopping, but also deep into the emotional challenges of fearing for your life. The audience asked Nikolau about the most difficult parts of filming. Nikolau answered it was allowing the audience to see her weak moments. Jeff Zimbalist and his team wove the story together with a skilled touch for how much is just enough to still keep the viewer mesmerized.

Audiences respond with standing rounds of applause

Once the documentary ends, standing rounds of applause erupt. When director Jeff Zimbalist takes the stage, he is greeted by another standing round of applause. Since the two stars of the documentary are from Russia, getting visas for them to attend the premiere was difficult. The Sundance Film Festival even involved Senator Mitt Romney to help them.

When the live stream came on to talk to Nikolau and Beerkus, we all saw them walking through the snowy parking lot, and there they were. They entered the theater to another standing round of applause.