In June of 2017, Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan, a granite rock formation about 3,000 feet high in Yosemite National Park without any ropes. His journey to achieve that climb, including the physical and emotional preparation, and the four hours he spent on the wall, was all captured and made into Free Solo, a beautiful Academy Award-nominated documentary by filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.
Of course, Alex could have died at any time while attempting the climb, and Chai and Jimmy experienced the added drama of being his very close friends. So here, we talk about how they navigated the emotional stress of telling this story and how being married with two small kids on set affected production. The couple met in 2011 when Jimmy was working on his film, Meru, and their passion for film and adventure grew. Making a major motion picture involves a ton of effort, patience, and skill. I was especially interested in what it was like to work on a project with such high stakes as a couple with a small family. Jimmy and Chai share about the making of this incredible movie, as well as how they worked together, their values, and how it is possible to make art as a couple.
“We’re very ambitious in being directing partners as well as a married couple, but I believe in this case it really empowered us,” Chai says.
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