Tenzing

The latest from director Jennifer Peedom (TIFF ’15’s Sherpa) recounts the story of Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay who, alongside Edmund Hillary, became ]first to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Luke Davis (TIFF ’16’s Lion), and starring Tom Hiddleston (TIFF ’24’s The Life of Chuck), Caitríona Balfe (TIFF ’21’s Belfast), Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (TIFF ’17’s The Florida Project), and Genden Phuntsok (TIFF ’18’s Jinpa), Tenzing is the inspiring exploration of an extraordinary life fuelled by ambition, tenacity, and a true sense of wonder.

From his early years spent working for a Sherpa family in the sacred village of Tengboche, Khumbu, Tenzing (Phuntsok) dreamed in the shadow of Everest. He began as an illiterate yak herder, ran away from home as an adolescent, and considered becoming a monk. 

Hard work and sheer charisma soon found him working on British expeditions to Everest in the 1930s. Nearly two decades would pass before Tenzing joined the team that would finally complete the ascent to the world’s tallest peak, led by John Hunt (Dafoe) and Edmund Hillary (Hiddleston), whose survival would ultimately depend on Tenzing’s skills, dedication, and profound courage.

Gorgeously photographed by Stefan Duscio (The Invisible Man), Tenzing is a transporting experience, ushering us along a seemingly impossible trek to the top of the world. The film’s stellar cast make expert guides on this journey, but its single greatest asset is Phuntsok, who embodies its larger-than-life hero with grace and vulnerability — and somehow captures Tenzing’s legendarily irresistible smile. 

Content advisory: mature themes, racial discrimination