On Location: Where was Tenzing filmed?

On Location peels back the curtain on some of your favourite films, television shows, and more. This time, we ask: where was Tenzing filmed?

Jennifer Peedom first visited the Himalayas over 20 years ago as an aspiring filmmaker, tagging along with a friend who was working on an Everest expedition. One opportunity led to another and she began working as a camera operator, where she observed the huge amount of work done by Sherpas – and their disproportionate share of the risk in helping foreigners reach the summit. “This so often ends up on the cutting room floor,” Jennifer says. “Which motivated the documentary I made in 2015 called Sherpa.” Through this very film – and the relationships built in local communities as a result – came the idea to tell the story of Himalayan climber Tenzing Norgay. “I always wondered why no one had told an Everest expedition story from a Sherpa’s point of view.”

“Some of the most impactful people live in the dip of society,” says Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok and the film’s namesake, Himalayan climber Tenzing Norgay. “There aren’t many stories about what Sherpas did before the mountaineers.” In Tenzing, Jennifer looks at the first ascent of Everest through the lens of Tenzing, who summited alongside New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston) after persuading Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) to give him a place on the British climbing team.

“Outsiders expand what’s possible for the team,” Tom says. “Tenzing – as did Hillary – pushed the boundaries of what was imaginable. What the pair’s friendship can teach us is that there is strength in human fellowship. You begin as outsiders with different frames of reference, but we’re more united by the things we share. Tenzing came from the higher Tibetan plateau, Hillary from New Zealand. They shared a love and respect for the mountains – and recognised each other.”

I sat down with Genden, Jennifer and Tom to discuss recreating Everest’s summit in New Zealand, filming a nail-biting sequence in a seemingly bottomless crevasse, and the power of being an outsider in a team setting.