Director
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
47 years · New York City, New York, USA · 16 films
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.
Coming next
Best known for
Filmography 14
Love+War
2025 · Director, Producer
On Hulu
Lost in the Jungle
2025 · Director, Producer
On Hulu
Endurance
2024 · Director, Producer
On Disney Plus
NYAD
2023 · Director
On Netflix
Wild Life
2023 · Director, Producer
On Disney Plus
Return to Space
2022 · Director, Producer
On Netflix
The Rescue
2021 · Producer, Director
On Disney Plus
What if He Falls?
2018 · Director
Free Solo
2018 · Director, Producer
On Hulu
Incorruptible
2015 · Director
Meru
2015 · Editor, Director
On Brew
Touba
2013 · Director
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
2008 · Director, Writer
A Normal Life
2003 · Narrator, Director