Skywalkers: A Love Story, released on Netflix on July 19, features the adventures of Russian rooftopping couple Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau. The pair, known for their successful careers as social media influencers, have capitalized on their Instagram fame by selling NFTs of their rooftopping feats.
Their first collaborative excursion was a sponsored trip to China, where they scaled the Goldin Finance 117, drawing significant media attention. Their unique dynamic together has become their USP, helping them make their mark in the space of rooftopping influencers.
The documentary further enhanced their presence by showcasing their adventures. Skywalkers: A Love Story concluded with the couple still deeply in love and planning to continue their rooftopping escapades together.
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The couple remains together by the end of
Skywalkers: A Love Story
The climax of Skywalkers: A Love Story shows Ivan and Angela's daring attempt to scale the Merdeka 118 skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This climb came after a series of career and personal setbacks, including challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
Filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist showcases in the documentary how, despite the very real dangers of the endeavor and their run-ins with the building security, Ivan and Angela succeeded in their climb and made a huge splash on social media. They then commemorated the moment as an NFT.
Their rooftopping feats even brought them closer to their families, with Ivan's parents expressing pride in him despite his unconventional career choices, and Angela reuniting with her grandmother, who had raised her since her family fell apart.
By the end of Skywalkers: A Love Story, the couple remains in love and shows no intention of stopping what they are doing.
Who is Ivan Beerkus from Skywalkers: A Love Story?
Ivan Beerkus is an Instagram influencer who has been involved in rooftopping from a very young age. One of his first climbs was at 17, when he climbed a construction crane at the Mercury City Tower in Moscow.
Ivan gained increased media attention through his globetrotting trips in search of new rooftopping challenges. At 19, he scaled the construction crane at Shanghai Tower, and in 2017, he scaled the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Ivan first met and began working with Angela Nikolau in 2016, when the two went on a trip to China sponsored by Travel Tickers. Together, they scaled the Golden Finance 117 in Tianjin, including the construction crane at the top of the tower. Since then, Ivan and Angela have become an influencer couple.
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Who is Angela Nikolau from Skywalkers: A Love Story?
Angela Nikolau is also a prominent rooftopping influencer who began her career in Moscow. Coming from a family of circus performers, with her parents as trapeze artists, Angela was deeply affected when her father left the family. This experience instilled in her a strong desire for independence.
Angela was inspired to get into rooftopping after realizing how male-dominated the space was and how she could make her own dent in the space by leveraging her femininity and circus background.
She has likened her rooftopping career to that of a traveling circus performer and believes she is carrying out her family's legacy in this manner.
Skywalkers: A Love Story premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2024, before Netflix released the film globally on July 19.