Person
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Directing · Born 1979-01-01 · New York City, New York, USA
Biography
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi is an American documentary filmmaker. She was the director, along with her husband, Jimmy Chin, for the film Free Solo, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film profiled Alex Honnold and his free solo climb of El Capitan in June 2017. Their first scripted film venture was Nyad, a biopic chronicling Diana Nyad's quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida. Vasarhelyi grew up in New York City, and is the daughter of Marina Vasarhelyi, a college administrator, and Miklós Vásárhelyi, a college professor. Her father is a Hungarian-born Brazilian and her mother is from Hong Kong. Vasarhelyi is a graduate of The Brearley School. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University.
Known for
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
The Oscars
Self
Free Solo
Director
The Rescue
Producer
Angel City
Executive Producer
NYAD
Director
Photographer
Executive Producer
Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin
Executive Producer
Wild Life
Director
The Lake
Executive Producer
Filmography
- 2026Everest: The Other SideDirector
- 2026The LakeExecutive Producer
- 2025Love+WarDirector
- 2025Lost in the JungleDirector
- 2024EnduranceDirector
- 2024PhotographerExecutive Producer
- 2023NYADDirector
- 2023Angel CityExecutive Producer
- 2023Wild LifeDirector
- 2022Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy ChinExecutive Producer
- 2022Return to SpaceDirector
- 2021The RescueProducer
- 2018EnhancedDirector
- 2018What if He Falls?Director
- 2018Free SoloDirector
- 2015Close Up with The Hollywood ReporterSelf
- 2015IncorruptibleDirector
- 2015MeruEditor
- 2013ToubaDirector
- 2008Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I LoveDirector
- 2003A Normal LifeNarrator
- 1953The OscarsSelf
- —BartaliDirector
- —Into The UnknownCreator
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