Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Birthday: 1979-01-01
Birthplace: USA
Gender: Female

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.

Credits

Year Title
Eruption
2024-10-14 Endurance
2023-10-18 NYAD
2023-04-14 Wild Life
2022-04-07 Return to Space
2021-10-08 The Rescue
2018-10-01 What if He Falls?
2018-09-28 Free Solo
2015-06-14 Incorruptible
2015-01-25 Meru
2013-03-01 Touba
2008-09-06 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
2003-12-08 A Normal Life