HamptonsFilm’s 16th annual SummerDocs series will feature three Sundance favorites: “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” “War Game,” and “Super/Man:The Christopher Reeve Story.” HamptonsFilm and Hamptons Intl. Film Festival artistic director David Nugent and chairman emeritus Alec Baldwin will lead conversations with attending filmmakers and guests.
The series will kick-off on July 5 with Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” Following a successful Sundance debut, Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to the docu about daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, as they take their relationship to terrifying new heights in a wild scheme to climb the world’s last great skyscraper and perform a death-defying stunt on its spire. Following the screening, Bukhonina will take part in a Q&a.
Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss’s “War Game” will screen on July 20 followed by Q&a with both filmmakers. The docu, which debuted at Sundance 2024, imagines a nation-wide insurrection,...
The series will kick-off on July 5 with Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” Following a successful Sundance debut, Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to the docu about daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, as they take their relationship to terrifying new heights in a wild scheme to climb the world’s last great skyscraper and perform a death-defying stunt on its spire. Following the screening, Bukhonina will take part in a Q&a.
Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss’s “War Game” will screen on July 20 followed by Q&a with both filmmakers. The docu, which debuted at Sundance 2024, imagines a nation-wide insurrection,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
If you’ve never used the word rooftop as a verb, it’s likely that you’ve not been following Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, a pair of Moscow daredevils who have made a career out of scaling some of the world’s tallest buildings. Their climbs are often unsanctioned and completed with minimal or nonexistent safety precautions in place. Of course, Nikolau and Beerkus aren’t just climbing buddies. They’re also in love, which means their date nights are a touch riskier than yours. The passion and dangers in this rooftopper relationship are at the heart of Skywalkers: A Love Story, a documentary that recently debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and will soon be coming to Netflix.
The film, which took seven years to produce, was written by Jeff Zimbalist and co-directed and co-produced by Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina. Nick Spicer served as executive producer for XYZ Films.
The film, which took seven years to produce, was written by Jeff Zimbalist and co-directed and co-produced by Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina. Nick Spicer served as executive producer for XYZ Films.
- 2/5/2024
- by Roxanne Fequiere
- Tudum - Netflix
It may have nothing to do with the fantastical creations of George Lucas, but in terms of achieving blockbuster-sized thrills, Skywalkers: A Love Story succeeds on a level where so many Hollywood productions fail. Following the trials and tribulations in love and play of a Russian influencer couple who have dedicated their life to illegally scaling the world’s largest skyscrapers, its immersive cinematography places us in nail-biting heights right alongside them. Following in the footsteps of the rousing Man on Wire and Free Solo, with a bit of Mission: Impossible-like espionage thrown in, the footage is about as thrilling and vertigo-inducing as one could imagine. Like another Netflix release––last year’s The Deepest Breath, which captured the story of free divers plumbing the depths of the ocean––Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s new documentary attempts to elucidate the thought process behind these daredevil theatrics. Yet it...
- 1/29/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Imagine suffering a panic or anxiety attack on a walk in the park or on the commute to and from work or as you watch your favorite docu-series via streaming. Now imagine a panic attack almost 2,000 feet above the ground as you tightly grip a metal ladder or scaffolding buffeted by 40-50 Mph winds. Even then, your imagination — and mine and everyone else’s — isn’t capable of duplicating, let alone replicating the first-hand experience of the so-called “rooftoppers” at the center of Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s singularly vertiginous documentary, Skywalkers: A Love Story. Little can, but Zimbalist, Bukhonina, and the charismatic co-stars of Skywalkers: A Love Story, Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, do their (next) level best to convey the sheer exhilaration,...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/29/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Netflix has acquired “Skywalkers: A Love Story” following the documentary feature’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
“Skywalkers,” which premiered Jan. 18 at the Ray Theatre, follows daring couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, who saved their relationship and career by climbing one of the world’s tallest buildings. Per the official logline: “A daredevil couple journey across the globe to climb the world’s last super skyscraper and perform a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire.” The documentary took seven years of production.
“Skywalkers” is directed and written by Jeff Zimbalist, with Maria Bukhonina as co-director. Zimbalist and Bukhonina produced the film alongside Library Films’ Chris Smith and XYZ Films’ head of documentary Tamir Ardon, while XYZ Films’ Nick Spicer executive produced. XYZ Films and Library Films were co-studios on the All Rise Films production.
Variety‘s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his “Skywalkers” review:...
“Skywalkers,” which premiered Jan. 18 at the Ray Theatre, follows daring couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, who saved their relationship and career by climbing one of the world’s tallest buildings. Per the official logline: “A daredevil couple journey across the globe to climb the world’s last super skyscraper and perform a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire.” The documentary took seven years of production.
“Skywalkers” is directed and written by Jeff Zimbalist, with Maria Bukhonina as co-director. Zimbalist and Bukhonina produced the film alongside Library Films’ Chris Smith and XYZ Films’ head of documentary Tamir Ardon, while XYZ Films’ Nick Spicer executive produced. XYZ Films and Library Films were co-studios on the All Rise Films production.
Variety‘s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his “Skywalkers” review:...
- 1/27/2024
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
On a busy Saturday for two of the biggest Sundance documentaries Netflix confirmed it had picked up worldwide rights to Skywalkers: A Love Story, while Warner Bros was in exclusive negotiations for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rooftoppers” who attempt to perform an acrobatic stunt atop the Merdeka 118 super skyscraper under construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to save their relationship and their careers.
The US Documentary Competition selection took seven years to make and Zimablist and his team accompanied Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus on their mission for much of the ride,...
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rooftoppers” who attempt to perform an acrobatic stunt atop the Merdeka 118 super skyscraper under construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to save their relationship and their careers.
The US Documentary Competition selection took seven years to make and Zimablist and his team accompanied Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus on their mission for much of the ride,...
- 1/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Netflix has picked up worldwide rights for Sundance documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story from XYZ Films.
On a busy Saturday morning it also emerged that Warner Bros is in exclusive negotiations with no deal in place yet to acquire worldwide rights for around $15m to Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge number for a Sundance documentary sale.
The studio makes sense for Super/Man,...
On a busy Saturday morning it also emerged that Warner Bros is in exclusive negotiations with no deal in place yet to acquire worldwide rights for around $15m to Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge number for a Sundance documentary sale.
The studio makes sense for Super/Man,...
- 1/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Netflix has picked up worldwide rights for Sundance documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story from XYZ Films.
A busy Saturday morning also brought reports that Warner Bros is in advanced talks to acquire Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the reports, nor the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge amount for a Sundance documentary sale.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rootoppers” who attempt to scale the Merdeka...
A busy Saturday morning also brought reports that Warner Bros is in advanced talks to acquire Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the reports, nor the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge amount for a Sundance documentary sale.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rootoppers” who attempt to scale the Merdeka...
- 1/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Netflix has landed the Sundance Film Festival buzz title documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story. The film premiered January 18 at The Ray Theatre.
The film focuses on the boundary-pushing couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, and a desperate climb to save their relationship. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist and co-directed by Maria Bukhonina, the film is reminiscent of pics like the Robert Zemeckis-The Walk and the Jimmy Chin/Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi-directed Free Solo, in that you can feel the dizzying heights and the risks just watching.
It took the filmmakers seven years to chronicle it all, as the climbers scaled some of the some of the world’s highest skyscrapers and sharing intimate photos with their millions of followers on social media. The couple’s relationship was in danger of a freefall when their goals began to differ, as they continued to escape law enforcement to dangle off the skyscrapers,...
The film focuses on the boundary-pushing couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, and a desperate climb to save their relationship. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist and co-directed by Maria Bukhonina, the film is reminiscent of pics like the Robert Zemeckis-The Walk and the Jimmy Chin/Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi-directed Free Solo, in that you can feel the dizzying heights and the risks just watching.
It took the filmmakers seven years to chronicle it all, as the climbers scaled some of the some of the world’s highest skyscrapers and sharing intimate photos with their millions of followers on social media. The couple’s relationship was in danger of a freefall when their goals began to differ, as they continued to escape law enforcement to dangle off the skyscrapers,...
- 1/27/2024
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s a cheesiness to the title of the new documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” with that heart-on-its-sleeve subtitle baked in. Despite the images of lightsabers it may convey, this Sundance documentary premiere is not about Luke and his “Star Wars” kin, but rather two Russian daredevils who scale towering buildings to create social media content, and also happen to be in a romantic relationship.
If their portrayals in Jeff Zimbalist’s film are accurate, Angela Nikolau and Vanya Kuznetsov have a sweet corniness to them, thanks to all their platitudes about how their daring and illegal sport is also a metaphor for their love. The result is a film that mixes tense, thriller-like scenes of Nikolau and Kuznetsov in action with an ending that’s almost aggressively sentimental.
“Skywalkers” plays a little bit like a “Man on Wire” for the Instagram age, and it’s at its best when...
If their portrayals in Jeff Zimbalist’s film are accurate, Angela Nikolau and Vanya Kuznetsov have a sweet corniness to them, thanks to all their platitudes about how their daring and illegal sport is also a metaphor for their love. The result is a film that mixes tense, thriller-like scenes of Nikolau and Kuznetsov in action with an ending that’s almost aggressively sentimental.
“Skywalkers” plays a little bit like a “Man on Wire” for the Instagram age, and it’s at its best when...
- 1/25/2024
- by Esther Zuckerman
- Indiewire
2024 Sundance marks something of a milestone in the documentary space for XYZ Films, best known for championing global genre fare like The Raid, Mandy, and The Invitation.
On Thursday opening night the Los Angeles-based company premieres two documentaries which it produced or executive produced. After years of relatively random engagement in the non-scripted format, producing the likes of Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s Framing John DeLorean (2019) and Marq Evans’s 2021 Tribeca premiere Claydream (2022), the documentary division led by Tamir Ardon is in full flow, with multiple projects in the pipeline.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers: A Love Story is...
On Thursday opening night the Los Angeles-based company premieres two documentaries which it produced or executive produced. After years of relatively random engagement in the non-scripted format, producing the likes of Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s Framing John DeLorean (2019) and Marq Evans’s 2021 Tribeca premiere Claydream (2022), the documentary division led by Tamir Ardon is in full flow, with multiple projects in the pipeline.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers: A Love Story is...
- 1/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.