Interview: ‘Nyad’ Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Discuss Making Their Narrative Debut and Their Oscar-Nominated Actresses

If you’ve seen one of their documentaries, you know that Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi are visceral filmmakers. Free Solo and The Rescue are harrowing experiences. So, when they set out to make their narrative debut with Nyad, adapting Diana Nyad‘s true life story, it sort of went without saying that they would capture the intensity of it all. That they also captured the human element really cemented that they have a future in fiction too. I spoke to stars Annette Bening and Jodie Foster here about the film. Today, it’s time for Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi to chime in about the work.

In my review of Nyad out of the Telluride Film Festival (here), I had the following to say about their direction:

Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi make their narrative debuts here after some incredible documentary work. Nyad feels very akin to Free Solo, with a similarly prickly protagonist. Working from a script by Julia Cox that hits the expected notes, the direction manages to find excitement in swimming. Plus, Bening, Foster, and Ifans are doing some strong work, setting them up for success.

Below, you can hear my chat with Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi. We met ostensibly to discuss Bening and Foster’s Academy Award nominations, but I wanted to hear all about this experience. Directing the legendary actresses to a pair of Oscar nominations is no small feat, but the accomplishment on the whole is worth talking about. They’re a lot of fun and clearly very passionate about it all. So, Nyad is hopefully just the start of the next act of their careers…

Here now is my interview with Nyad directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Enjoy:

Nyad is currently available to stream on Netflix!