“Skywalkers: A Love Story” is the opening film of HamptonsFilms SummerDocs

When Emmy-winning director Jeff Zimbalist was in college, he called himself an “amateur roofer” — someone who climbs tall buildings without safety equipment in the hope of reaching the top. After reading literature on cultural theory by philosophers such as Frederic Jameson and Theodore Adorno, Zimbalist began roofing, or, as it was then called, simple trespassing. It was only later that the names “urban exploration” or “roofing” came into use.

“Finding these autonomous spaces, these nooks and crannies beneath or above the city where I could face my fear and discover who I wanted to be in my own way was really exciting,” Zimbalist said. “It was transcendent, it was spiritual and it was empowering.”

Now, nearly 15 years later, Los Angeles-based Zimbalist and his co-director Maria Bukhonina have rekindled that spark of passion with their film, “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” The screening, in association with Guild Hall, kicks off HamptonsFilm’s SummerDocs series in association with Guild Hall in East Hampton on Friday, July 5.

“I was forced to search for a story that resonated as deeply as my experience, and that took 15 years,” Zimbalist said.

The story he found after all these years was about a Russian couple, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, an elite roofing duo who made a name for themselves on social media. Both went viral after posting pictures of their stunning feats on various skyscrapers.

The film, which took five years to shoot, tells the story of Nikolau and Beerkus: how they evolved from a competitive to a romantic couple and how “skywalking,” as they aptly called it, brought them closer together in a time of crisis.

Zimbalist and his team began working on the project in 2015, after Beerkus and Nikolau had already met, but to begin the film they tapped into what Zimbalist calls a “real goldmine” of archival footage they had obtained from other independent filmmakers.

“It was unclear at the time whether they were competitors and rivals or whether they were actually courting each other,” Zimbalist said. “It was still in the early stages and it was unclear which direction it would go.”

Directing was, of course, a love story, but there were many obstacles, especially during filming. Zimbalist and Bukhonina had to follow Beerkus and Nikolau on some of the climbing sections and make sure everything went safely.

“Maria and I climbed some very tall buildings and had some near misses. It was really fun, but there’s also a different level of responsibility because this was a professional project with a safety protocol,” Zimbalist explained. “We felt a tremendous amount of responsibility to ensure the safety of our cast and crew.”

To capture specific shots, Zimbalist and Bukhonina followed the couple up to roof level, but no further. Everything above roof level was filmed by either drones or GoPro cameras attached to Beerkus and Nikolau, along with equipment such as selfie sticks, night vision lenses and sports microphones.

“We agreed that when they go to extreme heights and extreme situations like towers or cranes, they would film alone and without us so that we wouldn’t distract them,” Bukhonina said.

For example, the couple were alone during their breathtaking attempt to climb the Merdeka Tower, the world’s second tallest skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The feat took 30 hours. But by this point they were used to it, as Beerkus and Nikolau had filmed alone for over 60 hours.

Zimbalist, who testifies that he is “more afraid of heights” today than he was when he was younger, was still feeling the thrill of his early “Skywalker” days during filming.

“When you’re producing these climbs, your mind is somewhere completely different than when you’re just a young, bulletproof cowboy,” he said. “I loved bringing it back into my life and seeing it on the big screen. I felt that thrill again, but through a different lens.”

But it wasn’t just the tall buildings that raised the stakes. Filming also took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Fortunately, Bukhonina, who is Russian-American, was able to be abroad with Beerkus and Nikolau during both of those difficult times.

“Thank God everything went well,” Zimbalist said. “We are so grateful that no one was injured or arrested.”

Although it is illegal and should not be imitated, roofing has apparently become a popular activity in Russia, and interest has spread to countries such as China. Bukhonina explained that Russia is “a society where young people are in a stalemate with the government, with the government being extremely oppressive and not allowing much creative freedom.”

“That was probably the impetus for creating this piece,” she continued. “It’s a kind of renegade art. It’s a way to break the rules in a society that’s a little oppressive around the edges.”

For Beerkus and Nikolau, it’s clearly an art form, especially with social media providing them with a platform. Nikolau has dubbed the couple “the modern traveling circus,” a term that comes from her family’s experience in the field.

“Angela feels like they’re artists. Their role models are not the Kardashians, but Basquiat and Warhol,” Zimbalist explained. “They see this as the equivalent of a photographer exhibiting in a gallery.”

Through social media, Beerkus and Nikolau were able to reach millions of people with their photos and also sell directly to their audience by creating and purchasing NFTs.

“It was an incredible boost for her to be able to start her career at such a young age and express herself so freely,” Zimbalist said.

But exposing such dangerous activities on social media undoubtedly has its drawbacks.

“The downside, of course, is that you run the risk of becoming copycats,” Zimbalist explains. “People watch their videos and think it’s easy and they can do it and risk their lives.”

Buchonina tried very hard to avoid misunderstandings among the audience.

“Maria taught Ivan and Angela that we need to see how difficult this is. We need to see the struggles and failures. We need to feel their fear and know that they are not invincible,” Zimbalist said. “We need to see these universal obstacles that we can relate to so that we don’t just see the polished, perfect persona on Instagram.”

“We are pretty sure that everyone who has seen the film will say at the end: ‘This is not for me,'” Bukhonina added.

The biggest challenge, both directors agreed, is maintaining safety under pressure.

“On one hand, there’s all this pressure to deliver something great that has a big climax, but on the other hand, you really want to prioritize safety and make sure nothing bad happens,” Zimbalist said. “It’s a constant tug-of-war in terms of, as Angela puts it, ‘the flyer and the catcher on the trapeze.’ How much do we push ourselves to pursue something that’s never been done before and how much do we pull back?” he added.

At the same time, it is a great feeling of satisfaction for the directors that their work is now done.

“The most rewarding thing for us is when people watch the film and come back and say, ‘Sure, the images and the footage were great, but what stuck with me was the trust in the partner,'” Zimbalist said.

Bukhonina added that the film, which was shown at Sundance and other film festivals, also had a major feminist impact.

“There are many young girls who want Nikolau’s autograph after the film – not because she is on the roof, but because she has a vision and is not afraid to insist on it. She is a force for us women in the creative arts. A strong female protagonist who pursues her artistic vision and refuses to give in. That is very inspiring to see,” said Bukhonina.

Zimbalist and Bukhonina’s farewell message to the film was twofold.

“The film is getting positive attention because of the dizzying spectacle, and we’re very happy about that, but we didn’t set out to make a thriller or a gangster film, and we were really blessed that these things happened. The vision from the beginning was that this was going to be a love story,” Zimbalist said.

“Our guiding light throughout production,” he added, “was that we didn’t want this film to be about the fear of falling from heights, but also about the fear of falling in love.”

HamptonsFilms SummerDocs screening of “Skywalkers: A Love Story” is Friday, July 5, at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton. Tickets are $35 at hamptonsfilmfest.org.