Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the documentary “Free Solo” won the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 91st Academy Award ceremony tonight beating out critically-acclaimed competition like “Minding The Gap” and “RBG.” A harrowing, thrilling and sometimes horrifying-to-watch doc portrait, which is visually stunning and intense, “Free Solo” follows singularly-focused mountain climber and daredevil Alex Honnold as he becomes the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite’s 3,000ft high El Capitan Wall. With no ropes or safety gear, he completed arguably the greatest feat in rock climbing history. It’s also been described as one of the most athletic feats ever achieved in human history.
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“Free Solo” had been racking up precursor wins and nominations all year long taking the BAFTA, the ACE, American Cinema Editors prize, the Critics Choice Award, the Cinema Eye Honors Award, and the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival award for Best Doc as well.
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“Free Solo” is gripping and extremely well-crafted, telling an emotional and highly dramatic story of a resolute man unwavering goal to accomplish a death-defying stunt while trying to navigate a new relationship. Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s editing and cinematography are breathtaking and cinematic and it’s perhaps no surprise that the doc was an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members favorite.
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Brie Larson of “Captain Marvel” fame recently attended an AMPAS screening and gave the film some extra attention. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, also directed the astonishing 2015 mountain climbing doc “Meru,” and clearly they’ve found a lane for visceral and vertiginous documentary portraits of obsession, skill, resolve and inspiration.
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Chin previously worked on similar docs about adventurers in Camera and Electrical departments, and “Free Solo” is his second directorial effort. Chai Vasarhelyi, also a producer has several credits to her name including “Incorruptible” (2015) and “Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love” (2008).
“Free Solo” is one of the highest grossing documentaries of 2018 and has made over $16 million in the U.S. It is currently ranked as the 16th highest grossing documentary of all time. It will be exciting to see what topic Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi decide to tackle next.
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