---
name: "Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "1 January 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 80
updated: "2026-09-17T05:41:23.845480+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Director and producer. Born 1 January 1979 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 1979, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2018–present
- **Also known as:** E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Chai Vasarhelyi, 엘리자베스 차이 베사헬리, チャイ・ヴァサルヘリィ, エリザベス・チャイ・バサヒリィ
- **Works often with:** [Bob Eisenhardt](https://film.one/person/bob-eisenhardt.md), [Jimmy Chin](https://film.one/person/jimmy-chin.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 82 (1), 2020s 78 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5362559, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1888091/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1027910

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Free Solo*](https://film.one/film/free-solo.md) (82), [*The Rescue*](https://film.one/film/the-rescue.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi is an American documentary filmmaker and director. She co-directed and co-produced the 2018 film *Free Solo* with Jimmy Chin, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2019. The film follows climber Alex Honnold's free solo ascent of El Capitan.

Vasarhelyi grew up in New York City. She is a graduate of the Brearley School and holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University. Her other directing credits include *Meru* (2015), *The Rescue* (2021), *Return to Space* (2022) and *Nyad* (2023). She has collaborated frequently with her husband, the filmmaker and mountaineer Jimmy Chin.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Rescue* (2021), Fi1m 78, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-rescue.md)
- *Free Solo* (2018), Fi1m 82, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/free-solo.md)

## Also known for

- *Return to Space* (2022), Director
- *NYAD* (2023), Director
- *Meru* (2015), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi