Top 33 Quotes & Sayings by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

The mission of professional mountain climbers is almost impossibly difficult by design: Their very livelihood is based on achieving the unprecedented. Their expeditions are complicated, exhausting, often life-threatening. Risk is the fuel that keeps them going.

I joined 'Meru' midstream after my co-director Jimmy Chin had already filmed the 2008 and 2011 climbs.

There are very few things of virtuosity or genius that you can actually witness.

There have been some wonderful climbing films, but for the most part, they are reenactments.

'Free Solo' has got nothing to do with politics, so to speak, but why are audiences responding to it in the degree that they did? I think it's because we give people an opportunity to see someone. Also, he's able to connect when you don't think he could connect. It's a respite.

I truly believe our work is an extension of who we are, and I constantly strive to push myself and my teams.

Parenthood has made me more cautious.

Professionally, I made my first film at 20 in a war zone in Kosovo.

Documentaries require an enormous amount of grit and empathy - and that is something women are incredibly strong at.

I think that documentaries are bound by journalistic ethics, and I think they have the pressure of trying to entertain someone for 90 minutes. It's hard, but it's the same question no matter what you're doing. Every film I've done, I've approached it the same way with the same level of respect.

Climbing is an understated culture.

I always wonder about the word 'intense.' 'Intense' is used to describe women. Guys are intense, but they don't get described that way.

At its heart, 'Meru' is a personal story.

As a director, people are trusting you with their lives, with their stories.

I was no stranger to risk myself, having made documentaries in dangerous conditions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Africa.

Color is everything. It's another piece of the visual language to express what you're trying to say.

My parents are both immigrants, and we traveled a lot.

Growing up biracial and speaking four languages - French, Chinese, Portuguese, and English - gave me a different lens. I was always very acutely aware of coming from a different perspective. I think that definitely contributed to what I chose to do with my life.

In the past, I think my films that focused on African subjects struggled in the marketplace because of their subject matter.

As a documentary filmmaker, 'Meru' was an irresistible challenge. You can spend years searching for the right story, but this one had all the elements: the obstacles, the characters, and the drama.

I grew up in New York City, but the rest of the world was a very big part of my upbringing.

The cinematography and the conditions in which 'Meru' was filmed drew me to the project. It's remarkable to think that everything in the film is real; these three men set out to attempt this impossible climb and to film it at the same time.

I went to Princeton to major in comparative literature. I never went to film school, but I studied storytelling across mediums - poems, literature, film, and journalism.

You just hope that your kids find what they love to do and abide by the law and make good decisions. The best you can do is instill such values in them.

I've always sought to give opportunities to women, to people who come from a different background, to add diversity to the mix - in that I think it makes our work better.

The top climbers in the world had attempted this climb and couldn't do it. That history is what makes Meru special.

There's something about 'Free Solo' that I look at the craft around it, and I'm really proud.

I was fortunate to come from a family that supported my dreams.

I wish I could say I've been following Youssou N'Dour all my life. I haven't.

Literature has guided me through my whole life.

That's what happens in feature docs. The more time you spend, the more nuance emerges, the more a story evolves - but it's different than fiction, where you can reshoot something.

My father filmed me all the time as a kid, and that's how I was first exposed to a camera.

My love was always in books. I was just one of those avid readers. Films came later, but the stories were always present.