Oscar-winning documentarian filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have made an entire career out of making nerve-wracking feats-of-athleticism documentaries like the incredible, Oscar-winning “Free Solo,” “Meru” and 2021’s “The Rescue,” about the death-defying race against time to rescue the boys trapped in the caves of Thailand that made international news. Naturally, given the intensity of their films, Hollywood has come knocking for them to try their hand at non-documentaries and dramas. And so their first foray into the narrative space, “Nyad,” feels like a very natural and organic shift for them, given it’s another herculean-tale-of-athletic-supremacy story wrapped up in biopic and sports drama.
Starring Jodie Foster and Annette Bening, plus Rhys Ifans, “Nyad,” tells the remarkable true story of athlete Diana Nyad who, at the age of 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach, commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida.
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Bening plays Nyad, Foster plays her best friend Bonnie Stoll, and Julia Cox is the writer—it’s based on “The Book “Find A Way” by Diana Nyad herself.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship, and the triumph of the human spirit, NYAD recounts a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad. Three decades after giving up marathon swimming in exchange for a prominent career as a sports journalist, at the age of 60, Diana (four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening) becomes obsessed with completing an epic swim that always eluded her: the 110-mile trek from Cuba to Florida, often referred to as the “Mount Everest” of swims. Determined to become the first person to finish the swim without a shark cage, Diana goes on a thrilling, four-year journey with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team.
The inspirational and thrilling film marks the narrative directorial debut of Academy Award-winning documentary filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo, The Rescue). NYAD is produced by Andrew Lazar, p.g.a. and Teddy Schwarzman, p.g.a. with a screenplay by Julia Cox, adapted from the memoir “Find a Way” by Diana Nyad.
“Nyad” premiered earlier this week at the Telluride Film Festival, and you can read our review here. The drama then opens in select theaters on October 20 and premieres on Netflix on November 3.
