Bing Liu (filmmaker)

Bing Liu (born 1989)[1] is a Chinese-American director and cinematographer. He is best known for directing the documentary Minding the Gap, which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.[2]

Bing Liu
Born1989 (age 31–32)
China
NationalityChinese-American
Alma materUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
OccupationDirector, cinematographer
Years active2012–present

Early life and education

Liu was born in China.[2] His family moved to the United States when he was five and soon after his parents got divorced.[3] Liu obtained American citizenship when he was 14 years old after his mother moved him to Rockford, Illinois and remarried. She had one son with his stepfather, a white American man. His stepfather was physically and mentally abusive, once shooting a gun at his mother.[2] He referred to Liu and his brother and mother using racial slurs and subjected them to various types of abuse.[2] Liu stated that he is no longer fluent in Mandarin as he once was because his stepfather did not let him and his mother communicate with each other using the language.[2]

He was first inspired by film-making after seeing First Love when he was 15, a video produced by Transworld Skateboarding Magazine that was mostly shot on 16 mm film. From then, he began interviewing skateboarders and learning about photography.[4]

He attended community college at Rock Valley College.[5] Liu left Rockford when he was 19[1] and then attended University of Illinois at Chicago where he majored in literature.[6][7]

Career

From 2012, he worked on various film sets, typically doing camera work.[6] Liu's first job on a major film was as a crew member for At Any Price.

His 2018 documentary film Minding the Gap was developed with Kartemquin Films. The film centered on himself and two other young men who were skateboarders in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois. The footage was shot over 12 years, beginning when Liu was 14, though it was only in his early 20s that he decided to make the documentary.[8][9] Liu is both a director and the subject of the film as he often speaks to his subjects from off camera.[4] The film deals heavily with domestic violence and toxic masculinity. It is the first feature film that he directed.[4]

He has two forthcoming documentary projects; the first will focus on two gun violence intervention programs in Chicago, and the second, which he has not yet started filming, will focus on millennial relationships.[8][6]

Liu also worked as a segment director for America to Me, a documentary series released by Starz.[6]

On A24's podcast, Ocean Vuong revealed Liu would be adapting Vuong's novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous into a feature film with A24. [10]

References
  1. Sachs, Ben (August 27, 2018). "An interview with Bing Liu about his powerful documentary Minding the Gap". Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  2. Jung, E. Alex (February 19, 2019). "Oscar-Nominated Minding the Gap Director Bing Liu on America's Masculinity Crisi". Vulture. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  3. Metz, Nina. "A conversation with Bing Liu about his documentary 'Minding the Gap'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  4. Wilkinson, Alissa (August 17, 2018). "How Minding the Gap went from skateboard documentary to a raw look at domestic abuse". Vox. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  5. "Rock Valley professor on Bing Liu: 'He was always working'". WIFR. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  6. Phillips, Michael. "Chicagoan of the Year: Bing Liu, Rockford filmmaker could make a splash at the Oscars". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  7. Istrate, Alin (April 3, 2019). "For Academy Award-nominated director, 'UIC was the launch pad'". International University Alliance.
  8. Wicker, Jewel (February 16, 2019). "'Minding the Gap' Director Looks to Chicago Prison and Millennial Relationships for Next Projects". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  9. Lang, Cady (September 11, 2018). "Minding the Gap Director Discusses His Buzzy Hulu Documentary". Time. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  10. "All The Ways To Be with Bryan Washington & Ocean Vuong". a24films.com. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
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