Even as Nepal and the world still reel from the terrible tragedy of the ice-rock avalanche of August 26, 2026, in the country’s Rasuwa district near the Tibetan border, a biographical film on the life of one of the country’s and the Himalaya’s greatest heroes is all set to make its celluloid debut soon.
Tenzing, a biographical drama directed by Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom and written by Luke Davies, will chronicle the life of Tenzing Norgay, who along with Edmund Hillary, first scaled Mt Everest in 1953.
The film stars Chinese actor of Tibetan descent Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing Norgay, Tom Hiddleston as Sir Edmund Hillary, and Willem Dafoe as John Hunt.
The film, noted Variety magazine, will open the 22nd Zurich Film Festival on September 24.
The Variety article quoted Zurich Film Festival CEO Christian Jungen: “This year’s Zurich Film Festival motto is ‘dream big.’ Our breathtaking opening film ‘Tenzing’ fits perfectly, because it shows how you can grow beyond yourself when you have a big dream.”
“The film offers powerful emotion and mountain scenery of sublime beauty. But it also carries an important message for our time: The first ascent of Mount Everest only succeeded because the climbers respected the local Sherpa people and the laws of nature.”
According to Peedom, “At its heart, ‘Tenzing’ is about a man who dared to imagine a life beyond the limits the world had placed on him, and the courage, sacrifice and belief it took to reach the highest point on earth. The spirit of ‘dream big’ feels incredibly fitting.”
The filmmaker spent more than two decades working in the Himalayas and on Everest. Her relationship with the region and the Sherpa community (to which Tenzing belonged to) began through her early work as a filmmaker in high-altitude environments and has shaped some of the defining projects of her career, noted Variety.
Everest, known as Sagarmāthā in Nepali and Čhomolangma in Tibetan, is named after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor and geographer who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843.
It is one of the eight ‘eight thousanders’ in Nepal and 14 ‘eight thousanders’ in the Himalayas and the Karakoram range, the highest peaks on the planet, measuring over 8,000 metres in height.
See-Saw Films, which has produced the film for Apple Original Films, describes the plot of the film thus:
In 1953, Tenzing Norgay, alongside New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, both outsiders on a British Expedition, defied insurmountable odds to achieve what was once thought impossible, reaching the summit of the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest. After six previous attempts, Tenzing risked everything for one final venture. He had to navigate treacherous politics and perilous weather as he embarked on the most significant climb of his life. Through it all, he did so with humor, warmth, and generosity towards his fellow climbers, but also deep reverence and respect for the sacred Mother Goddess of his mountain, Jomolungma.
Based on true events, the biographical drama chronicles the historic 1953 Everest expedition and Tenzing Norgay’s journey to the summit with Hillary.
Back in 2019, Peter Hillary, the son of Sir Edmund, had spoken to Down To Earth about how the Everest of today is a vastly different place from the one scaled by his father and Tenzing after media reports showed a ‘traffic jam’ of tourist climbers on the summit.
“We also need to treat mountains gently and with respect whenever we go to them. It should be a very different attitude from what existed in earlier times when we considered the outdoors, the environment as a resource to do whatever we felt like. That is an attitude that has to change. There are so many people who want to enjoy the outdoors and I think they should. The point to remember is that we have to tread lightly on the environment,” said Hillary.
‘Tenzing’ will release in select theatres on October 9, followed by streaming on Apple TV on October 16, 2026.