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High above bustling cityscapes, a pair of Russian rooftoppers have carved out a niche unlike any other.
“Skywalkers: A Love Story,” a Netflix documentary released July 19, chronicles the daring exploits of Angela Nikolau, 31, and Ivan Beerkus, 30, who found love in a high-up (and some might say hopeless) place: Thousands of feet in the sky, illegally scaling the world’s tallest buildings.
“We always support each other,” Nikolau tells TODAY.com. “We have this agreement between ourselves that whenever we do something together and one of us is losing motivation, the other one has to push him forward.”
“We don’t give up,” she adds.
Since Beerkus first asked Nikolau in 2016 to scale the world’s highest construction site, located in China, they’ve become partners in climb. They’ve traveled across Europe and Asia, making it to the top of skyscrapers, construction cranes, bridges and beyond.
Beerkus and Nikolau don’t wear harnesses while climbing. Their gear consists only of camera equipment, a few tools, and refreshments to keep them fueled for the highly physical and mentally taxing treks.
“You have to be 100% sure on rooftops,” Beerkus says in the documentary. “Right before a climb, physical ability is less important than inner belief, so we have to shut off inner fears and rely on trusting each other.”
The film documents their preparation for their biggest challenge at the time: Climbing the 118 story Merdeka, a 2,200 foot skyscraper with a 160 foot spire, in Malaysia. The climb took over 30 hours. After making it to floor 112 of Merdeka, they were forced to hide out for over a day to avoid detection by a construction crew.
Although the pair succeeded in their quest to reach the top, there were many points of struggle. They went were without water and food for 19 hours, leading to “pounding headaches and rising fevers,” Beerkus says in the film. Unforeseen security blockades posed additional challenges.
What compelled them to choose this life? Nikolau and Beerkus each started climbing solo.
Raised by parents in the circus, Nikolau was always drawn to combining art and heights like they did. Her background in dance and acrobatics gave her the physicality needed for roof topping.
“I wanted to feel what they were feeling,” she says of her parents in the film. “I started looking up, and I felt like the roofs were calling for me to come touch the sky, to be a part of that beauty, that greatness.”
“We didn’t have much, but my parents were living the dream,” she continues. “Seeing that passion, that freedom was magical.”
Beerkus, meanwhile, found solace in climbing. In the film he says his parents didn’t always get along, which “made home feel suffocating.”
“The higher I went, the easier it was to breathe,” he says. “This extreme life, this expanded state of mind, it’s essential for me.”
After posting pictures of their respective climbs on Instagram, their profiles grew and so did opportunities for sponsorship, leading them to realize they could turn their passion into a career.
“My new motivation was to be able to create this new image, to capture a unique moment that nobody has ever done,” Beerkus tells TODAY.com.
Nikolau directs how their artistic expression unfolds across their social accounts. With a background in art school, she considers elements like architecture, color and surrounding landscape when choosing outfits.
“Every time, I’m thinking about what would look best in that environment, in that space, with a particular building,” she tells TODAY.com.
Before meeting Nikolau, Beerkus described roof topping as a “personal achievement.” He has since “realized that it’s an art form.”
“I was inspired by you,” he tells her in the movie. “You and I have begun to create very beautiful things.”
To capture images, the two must first make it to the top. Beerkus takes on extensive logisitical research before each climb.
“I was raised in a family where my great-grandfather was a designer of airplanes so I’m more inclined to look at the blueprints and be very methodical in thinking about entrances and exits,” Beerkus tells TODAY.com.
The two have only been arrested for trespassing once: in Paris, France, after they were spotted by police climbing the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde. They spent the night in jail.
“We’re not terrorists, not suicidal, not hurting anyone,” Beerkus says in the documentary. “We’re just artists filming the city from up high, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Where are Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau now?
Since the film’s release, the two have moved to New York where they plan to pursue other, more terrestrial artistic endeavors — music for Beerkus and painting for Nikolau.
“Being able to see ourselves on screen we realized that our lifestyle was unusual, but also that our art invokes a reaction from the public, people are very inspired by what we do,” Nikolau tells TODAY.com.
“So we want to continue to do that, maybe not as risky as we have been but something as inspirational for others as what you’ve seen in the film.”