Jennifer Peedom\u2019s drama Tenzing, starring Tom Hiddleston and
\nWillem Dafoe, is set to open the 22nd edition of the Zurich Film Festival on
\nSeptember 24, according to the organisers. <\/p>\n
“Perfectly aligned with this year\u2019s ZFF theme, ‘dream big’, the epic story of the first ascent of Mount Everest will have its European Premiere on September 24, kicking off #ZFF2026 with a spectacular Opening Night,” reads a caption by the official social media post by Zurich Film Festival. <\/p>\n
Hiddleston, Dafoe and Peedom will attend the green carpet in Zurich for
\nthe European premiere of the film which is produced by Apple Original Films.
\nThe film chronicles the first successful ascent of Mount Everest, reported
\nVariety.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt its heart, Tenzing is about a man who dared to imagine a life beyond
\nthe limits the world had placed on him, and the courage, sacrifice and belief
\nit took to reach the highest point on earth,\u201d said Peedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s Zurich Film Festival motto is \u2018dream big.\u2019 Our breathtaking
\nopening film Tenzing fits perfectly, because it shows how you can grow beyond
\nyourself when you have a big dream,\u201d Zurich Film Festival CEO Christian Jungen
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He also added that the film combines \u2018powerful emotion and mountain
\nscenery of sublime beauty\u2019 while also highlighting the importance of respecting
\nthe local Sherpa community and the nature that is an integral part of Sherpa
\nlife.<\/p>\n
Tenzing is based on the original story of the Himalayan climber Tenzing
\nNorgay, played by Genden Phuntsok, and his partner Edmund Hillary, a New
\nZealand mountaineer, who is portrayed by Hiddleston. The two went on to become
\nthe pioneer climbers to summit Mount Everest.<\/p>\n
The film unfolds as Tenzing seeks recognition not merely as an assisting
\nSherpa to Western climbers, but as a mountaineer in his own right. He finds
\nalliance in expedition secretary Jill Henderson, portrayed by Caitr\u00edona Balfe,
\nwith encouragement from his wife Dawa, who is played by Thinley Lhamo.<\/p>\n
They successfully persuade expedition leader Colonel John Hunt, played
\nby Dafoe, that Tenzing deserves a place on the British climbing team.<\/p>\n
Along with the struggle against the mountain’s extreme conditions, the
\nstory is pregnant with strains of culture, class and ambition, before Tenzing
\nand Hillary are able to develop a mutual bond based on respect and trust.<\/p>\n
Tenzing will be released in select theatres on October 9 and will have
\nits premiere on Apple TV on October 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Peedom\u2019s drama Tenzing, starring Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe, is set to open the 22nd edition of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[58675,58648,58649,51,58763],"class_list":["post-120632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-zurich","tag-tenzing-norgay","tag-tom-hiddleston","tag-willem-dafoe","tag-zurich","tag-zurich-film-festival-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117160649936127483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}