Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (; born ) is an American documentary filmmaker. She was the director, along with her husband,

Jimmy Chin Jimmy Chin (born ) is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, film director, and author. Chin has been a professional climber and skier on The North Face Athlete team for over 20 years. In 2006, Chin achieved the first succes ...

, for the film ''

Free Solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...

'', which won the 2019

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. The film profiled

Alex Honnold Alexander Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his Free solo climbing, free solo ascents of Big wall climbing, big walls. Honnold rose to prominence in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo El ...

and his free solo climb of

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

in June 2017.

Early life and education

Vasarhelyi grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and is the daughter of Marina Vasarhelyi, a college administrator, and Miklós Vásárhelyi, a college professor. Her father is from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and her mother is from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Vasarhelyi is a graduate of

The Brearley School The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9– ...

. She holds a B.A. in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Career

Vasarhelyi worked in 2004 as an assistant to director

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

on the film '' Closer'' and has worked extensively with Emmy-Award-winning cinematographer Scott Duncan documenting events such as the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

. Her first film, ''A Normal Life'', won Best Documentary at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in 2003. Her second film, '' Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love,'' was released in theaters in the United States and internationally. The film premiered at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals and won numerous awards including the Special Jury Prize at the

Middle East International Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2 ...

in 2008 and a nomination for the Pare Lorentz Award at the 2009 International Documentary Association Awards. In 2013, Vasarhelyi completed ''Touba'', a documentary on the annual Mouride pilgrimage, the Grand Magaal in

Touba, Senegal Touba ( Hassaniya Arabic: , 'Felicity'; Wolof: Tuubaa) is a city in central Senegal, part of Diourbel Region and Mbacké district. With a population of 529,176 in 2010, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after Dakar. It is the hol ...

. It premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

2013, where it won the Special Jury Prize for Best Cinematography. She returned to Senegal to document the presidential elections of 2012. ''Incorruptible'' (formerly ''An African Spring''), the story of Senegalese democracy, won the

Independent Spirit The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

Truer Than Fiction Award in 2015. In 2015, Brandon Wilson from

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

wrote that Vasarhelyi's "familiarity with the country pays dividends and elevates the piece from being just another tale of civic dysfunction on the African continent." One of Vasarhelyi's films as a director include the highest grossing independent documentary film of 2015, ''

Meru Meru may refer to: Geography Kenya * Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya ** Meru County, created by the merger of *** Meru Central District *** Meru North District *** Meru South District * Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park Tanza ...

'' (Oscars Shortlist 2016; Sundance Audience Award 2015). ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine said: "Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi's Sundance audience award winner is one of the best sports documentaries of its type in recent years." Vasarhelyi and Chin's 2018 film ''

'' won the People's Choice Award: Documentaries at the

2018 Toronto International Film Festival The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to ...

. The film has received critical acclaim as a riveting documentary and a profound story of human endeavor. Jeannette Catsoulis from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called Free Solo, "an engaging study of a perfect match between passion and personality." Vasarhelyi and Chin discuss filming the climb in their ''New York Times'' opinion piece, saying, "Throughout history, documentarians have had to struggle with the blurred lines of their responsibility to their subjects. We were haunted by the possibility that our presence might put him at more risk every time we turned on the cameras." Vasarhelyi has directed a ''New York Times'' Op Doc, an episode for Netflix's non-fiction design series ''ABSTRACT,'' and two episodes for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

’s non-fiction series ''Future of Sports''. ''Free Solo'' won the 2019

. Vasarhelyi has received grants from the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the

Rockefeller Brothers Fund The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...

, Bertha Britdoc, the William and Mary Greve Foundation and the

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. She was selected as a 2013 Sundance Documentary Film Fellow, named one of ''

Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

'' magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2005^{/sup> and received an Achievement Award from Creative Visions foundation in 2008.

Personal life

Vasarhelyi married Jimmy Chin

Jimmy Chin (born ) is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, film director, and author.

Chin has been a professional climber and skier on The North Face Athlete team for over 20 years. In 2006, Chin achieved the first succes ...
, a photographer for ''National Geographic

''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' and a professional skier and climber, on May 26, 2013. They have two children. Vasarhelyi met Chin at a conference at Lake Tahoe in 2012.

Awards

*2003: Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
Best Documentary Feature for ''A Normal Life''
*2008: Middle East International Film Festival

The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2 ...
Special Jury Prize for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: International Documentary Association

International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...
Pare Lorentz Award (nominee) for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) is a non-profit film festival held in the Bahamas. Open to both locals and international visitors, the festival was founded by Leslie Vanderpool in 2004.

BIFF also hosts a youth film workshop that a ...
Audience Award for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) is a non-profit film festival held in the Bahamas. Open to both locals and international visitors, the festival was founded by Leslie Vanderpool in 2004.

BIFF also hosts a youth film workshop that a ...
Spirit of Freedom Award for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: DC International Film Festival Audience Award for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: São Paulo International Film Festival

The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...
Audience Award for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2008: Nashville Film Festival

The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...
Music of Impact Award for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
Special Presentation for ''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2013: SXSW

South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
Special Jury Prize for Best Cinematography for ''Touba''
*2015: Independent Spirit

The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...
Truer Than Fiction Award Winner for ''Incorruptible''
*2015: Woodstock Film Festival

The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...
Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary for ''Incorruptible''
*2015: One World Film Festival
One World ( Czech: ''Jeden svět'') is the largest human rights film festival in the world (125,947 spectators in 2018), held annually in Prague and other 36 cities of the Czech Republic, with a selection later shown in Brussels and other countries ...
Václav Havel Jury Award for ''Incorruptible''
*2015: Oscar

Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:

People

* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature for ''Meru''
*2015: Sundance Audience Award Winner for ''Meru''
*2015: Independent Spirit

The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...
Award Nomination for Best Documentary for ''Meru''
*2015: DGA Award Nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for ''Meru''
*2015: PGA Award Nomination for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures for ''Meru''
*2015: Cinema Eye Honors Audience Choice Prize Winner for ''Meru''
*2015: Cinema Eye Honors Award Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for ''Meru''
*2015: Cinema Eye Honors Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Production for ''Meru''
*2015: Cinema Eye Honors Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score for ''Meru''
*2015: The New York Times

''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, Critics' Pick for ''Meru
Meru may refer to:

Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanza ...
''
*2016: Oscar's Shortlist for ''Meru
Meru may refer to:

Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanza ...
''
*2018: People's Choice Documentary award at Toronto International Film Fest for ''Free Solo'' "Chai Vasarhelyi." Free The Bid. Accessed November 15, 2018. https://www.freethebid.com/directors/chai-vasarhelyi/.
*2018: Mill Valley Film Festival
The Mill Valley Film Festival is an annual American film festival founded in 1977.

History
In October 1977, Mark Fishkin, Rita Cahill and Lois Cole organized a three-day film festival. It featured three film tributes, Francis Ford Coppola's ''T ...
Valley of the Docs People's Choice awards
*2018: Virginia Film Festival

The Virginia Film Festival is a film festival hosted by the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The festival is held annually, usually in late October or early November.
History

Cr ...
Documentary Feature Audience Award
*2018: Critics Choice Award

The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
for Best Documentary for ''Free Solo'' "Documentary Awards." Critics' Choice Awards. Accessed November 15, 2018. http://www.criticschoice.com/documentary-awards/ .
*2018: Critics Choice Award

The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
for Best Sports Documentary for ''Free Solo''
*2019: BAFTA Award for Best Documentary
This page lists the winners for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, formerly known as the Robert Flaherty Documentary Award, for each year.
History
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts an ...
for ''Free Solo''
*2019: Academy Award

The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Documentary Feature for ''Free Solo''

Filmography

*2003: ''A Normal Life''
*2008: '' Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love''
*2013: ''Touba''
*2015: ''Incorruptible''
*2015: ''Meru
Meru may refer to:

Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanza ...
''
*2017: '' Abstract: The Art of Design'' (TV series documentary)
*2018: ''Free Solo

Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...
''
*2018: ''Enhanced'' (TV series documentary)
*2021: '' The Rescue''
*2022: ''Return to Space

''Return to Space'' is an American documentary film made for Netflix and directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Its story follows Elon Musk's and SpaceX engineers' two-decade mission to send NASA astronauts back to the Internati ...
''
*2022: ''Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin''
*TBA: '' Nyad''

References

A Mountaineer in ManhattanWall Street Journal, June 5, 2009THE TREATMENT/Elvis Mitchell: Chai Vasarhelyi interview, July 8, 2009Elle.com interview with Chai Vasarhelyi, July 1, 2009New York Magazine May 10, 2009

External links

*
*
*
Meru
' website
Chai Vasarhelyi"
Freethebid.com

''New York Times'' Op-Doc Opinion piece by Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasarhelyi, Elizabeth Chai
Living people
American documentary filmmakers
American film directors of Hong Kong descent
American people of Hungarian descent
Brearley School alumni
Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners
Film directors from New York City
Princeton University alumni
Primetime Emmy Award winners
American women documentary filmmakers
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women}