Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin took home the Academy Award for National Geographic’s Free Solo tonight.
The married couple appeared overwhelmed with emotion. “Holy sh*t,” Chin proclaimed. It was the first censored speech of the telecast. He then whispered to his wife “breathe, breathe.”
A tearful Chai Vasarhelyi thanked National Geographic “for believing in us and for hiring women and people of color because we only help make the film’s better.
“This film is for everyone who believes in the impossible,” she said.
Free Solo put the spotlight on rock climber Alex Honnold who Chai Vasarhelyi said “without the film would have been boring.” The documentary crew followed Honnold’s ascent up the 7,500 feet vertical face of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan.
Several Asian Americans were nominated in this category. You can read more about that here.
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