Peedom's film "Tenzing" retells the 1953 Everest climb from Tenzing Norgay's view

Mixed · 2"Tenzing", a new film by Australian director and producer Jennifer Peedom, retells the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest in May 1953 from the perspective of Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit with Edmund Hillary. 1 2 Left · 1ABC News (Australia) reports that Norgay's legacy was often portrayed as that of a Sherpa who accompanied and helped, rather than an integral and equal part of the climbing team, and says the film covers his childhood in the high Himalayas and his persistence in overcoming prejudice and tradition. 1 Left · 1Peedom said the film is as much about how Norgay came to be on the starting line as about the climb, and that none of that had been documented. 1

Left · 1It is Peedom's first narrative film; Peedom previously made documentaries including Mountain and Sherpa and has worked in the Himalayas for about two decades. 1 Mixed · 2Norgay is played by three actors at different life stages, with Genden Phuntsok as the older Tenzing, Tom Hiddleston plays Hillary and Willem Dafoe plays expedition leader John Hunt. 1 2 Left · 1Peedom said they consulted Sherpa community members and cultural advisers, and Norgay's son Norbu Tenzing joined as executive producer. 1

Left · 1Filming took place in high altitude in Nepal and then at Aoraki/Mount Cook in New Zealand, which stood in for the Everest peak; Hiddleston said the cast trekked part of the route towards base camp before shooting. 1 Left · 1Dafoe described Hunt as starting out as a rigid traditionalist determined to have two British men on the peak, whose understanding shifted through the climb. 1 Right · 1In an AFP report carried by Arab News, Norgay's son Jamling Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, 61, said the film was "long overdue" and that his father did not get the recognition he deserved, though his father "really didn't care about it" and climbed out of passion. 2

Right · 1Jamling Sherpa said climate change is transforming the Himalayas and making climbing more dangerous, citing the glacial lake outburst flood that swept away half of his father's village Thame two years ago and water now appearing at Camp 2, about 6,400 metres, where he said there was once only solid ice. 2 Right · 1He said unpredictable weather and frequent avalanches endanger Sherpa guides, who he said climb today for financial necessity, and that responsibility for addressing climate change lies largely with the world's biggest emitters. 2 Mixed · 2The outlets differ on release timing: ABC News (Australia) said the film opens in select cinemas and on Apple TV+ on 16 October, while the AFP report said it was released on Friday. 1 2