Quotes from Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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