‘Tenzing’ Retells Sherpa’s 1953 Everest Ascent

Jennifer Peedom’s film “Tenzing” centers Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, whose role in the 1953 Everest summit with Edmund Hillary was often overshadowed by the way the achievement was remembered. The biopic follows Norgay’s path to the mountain and presents him as an experienced, equal climbing partner whose years of high-altitude work preceded global fame. It also explores the prejudice and historical imbalance that shaped recognition of Himalayan climbers, while emphasizing that Norgay and Hillary reached the summit together and resisted claims that one had arrived first. The production involved Norgay’s son as an executive producer and Sherpa cultural advisers, and cast Tibetan and mountaineering performers in Sherpa roles. Genden Phuntsok plays Norgay, Tom Hiddleston plays Hillary, and Willem Dafoe portrays expedition leader John Hunt.