Minding the Gap(2018)
dir. Bing Liu
Three skaters, one camera, twelve years.
Where to watch: Hulu (JustWatch US, checked Oct 26 2026); disc also availableLetterboxd ↗
Bing Liu spent twelve years filming himself and his skateboarding friends in Rockford, Illinois, as they grew from teenagers into men. What began as a skate video turns into a portrait of three young men and the violence they inherited at home, and a reckoning with Liu's own stepfather. It was nominated for an Oscar.
Why it’s here
The film shows how violence is handed down inside homes and through towns that economics have emptied. What's punk is that skateboarding is the way out, and the filmmaker aims the camera at himself too. What's pedagogical is that it models how to turn a personal archive into political understanding. Pairs with Hoop Dreams (suggested earlier this month) and Always Running. Note: domestic violence and child abuse are discussed; best for older teens and adults.
Where This Film Lives
Read Alongside
Books that share a topic, theme, or setting with this film.
Men We Reaped
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Five young men lost, and the town that let it be.
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Nectar in a Sieve
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The Girl with the Louding Voice
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A Different Pond
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A Girl Is a Body of Water
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A Ugandan girl asks who the women before her were.
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Between Shades of Gray
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A Lithuanian teen draws her way through Siberia.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Bud, Not Buddy
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An orphan, a suitcase, and the Great Depression.
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Capitalism: A Ghost Story
Arundhati Roy
India's billionaire towers, and who they displace.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST