Chai Vasarhelyi is an Academy Award winning filmmaker. Most recently Vasarhelyi directed and produced ‘Free Solo’, an intimate, unflinching portrait of rock climber Alex Honnold. ‘Free Solo’ was awarded both the 2019 Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Documentary Feature. The film also received seven Emmy awards.

Vasarhelyi’s other films as a director include ‘Meru’ (Oscars Shortlist 2016; Sundance Audience Award 2015); ‘Incorruptible’ (Truer Than Fiction Independent Spirit Award 2016); ‘Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love’ (Oscilloscope, 2009), which premiered at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals; ‘A Normal Life’ (Tribeca Film Festival, Best Documentary 2003); and ‘Touba’ (SXSW, Special Jury Prize Best Cinematography 2013).

Vasarhelyi has directed two New York Times Op Docs, two episodes for Netflix’s nonfiction design series ‘Abstract’ and two episodes for ESPN’s nonfiction series ‘Enhanced’. She has received grants from the Sundance Institute, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Bertha Britdoc, and the National Endowment of the Arts. She is a member of the DGA as well as AMPAS. She holds a B.A. in comparative literature from Princeton University and splits her time between New York City and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.