On Location: Where Was Tenzing Filmed?

Jennifer Peedom first went to the Himalayas more than 20 years ago as an aspiring filmmaker, joining a friend on an Everest expedition. Work as a camera operator followed, and she saw how much Sherpas did-and how much risk they carried-while helping foreigners reach the summit. That experience led to her 2015 documentary Sherpa and, eventually, to Tenzing, a film telling the 1953 Everest ascent from the point of view of climber Tenzing Norgay.

Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok, who plays Tenzing, says there aren't many stories about what Sherpas did before the mountaineers. In the film, Tenzing is seen persuading Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) to give him a place on the British team before summiting with Sir Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston). Hiddleston says the pair's friendship shows there is strength in human fellowship, and that they recognized each other through a shared love of the mountains.

The team spent three months in Nepal during pre-production and shot there for six weeks before moving to New Zealand. Scenes of Tenzing's early life were filmed in Mustang, near the Tibetan border, where villages doubled for Sherpa communities originally planned for the Khumbu region until earthquakes prevented it. Peedom says cultural accuracy required care and sign-off from Tenzing's family.

Patan Durbar Square in Kathmandu, an active place of worship, was secured for two hours to shoot two major scenes with many extras, and the team also filmed in real monasteries while working around religious holidays. Everest sequences were shot across New Zealand's southern Alps, in consultation with Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua and the Department of Conservation. Ten metres of snow had fallen, forcing Peedom to find new locations.

The summit scene was filmed on a clear day on Aoraki/Mount Cook. Hiddleston says the awe on their faces was real, with the actors roped together and taking turns leading. The scene where Hillary falls into a crevasse and is saved by Tenzing is based on a real event; the team found a crevasse on the Darwin Glacier. Phuntsok says Tenzing made a quick, life-saving self-arrest.

Peedom says the film is about pursuing dreams when the odds are against you, and that Tenzing was someone who was underestimated. Phuntsok adds that in Sherpa culture you approach the mountain with respect, and that Tenzing tells Hillary they need permission from the Goddess to summit. Tenzing is in select cinemas on October 9 and globally on Apple TV on October 16.