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Mountain Queen
Of Night And Light
How To Change Your Mind
Bring Your Own Brigade
Defying Gravity
Oh, What a Beautiful City
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios
Wolvesmouth
The Lion’s Mouth Opens
David Hockney IN THE NOW
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
The Crash Reel
Countdown To Zero
Waste Land
Blindsight
Devil’s Playground
Why Did You Kill Me?
Ram Dass, Going Home
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Other Shorts
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (2024)
watch on Netflix
The first Nepali woman to summit and descend Mount Everest, Lhakpa Sherpa devoted her life to empowering girls. Now a single mother working at a Whole Foods in Connecticut, she embarks on a dramatic return to the mountain, determined to redeem her life’s purpose and inspire her own daughters.
Mountain Queen was made independently and premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, where it received a rapturous reception and was acquired by Netflix. It is available to watch on Netflix globally.
Here is the trailer:
Director’s Statement
The first time that Lhakpa and I met, she told me that her daughter Shiny had looked me up online and knew that I was the one who would finally tell her story. Then she burst into tears, and of course so did I, and we both knew it had to happen. She is exactly the kind of person who inspires me and whom I love to make films about, people for whom life has not been easy, but who meet challenge with grace and courage. I related to her on so many levels. And I was blown away by her mountaineering accomplishments, but - and here’s the thing - even more so by what she has surmounted in her life off the mountain.
Growing up in a remote region of Nepal far enough from Everest that she had never seen white people and when the first tourists trekked into her village when she was very young her mom and siblings ran away screaming, thinking they were yetis come to grab them, the mythical monsters who lived in the unknown lands beyond her valley, Lhakpa’s life has been a fairytale starring the bravest girl in the world. She was denied an education which at the time was allowed only for boys, and dedicated her life to fighting for opportunities for women and girls. She escaped an arranged marriage by chopping off her hair and passing herself off as a boy in order to become the first girl in her village to work as first a porter and then being promoted to “kitchenboy” on the first tourist treks in her region. But having held out for a “love marriage”, she was betrayed, and found herself once again experiencing the cruelty of the world’s double standards for women…. and that’s just the beginning of the story, which only gets more breathtaking from there. I knew instantly that I wanted to structure the movie around “the summits” of Lhakpa’s life, and to organize the film by following her Everest climb and organizing the backstory of her previous life summits and Everest summits as “stations of the cross” along the route.
And what’s funny is that what Lhakpa didn’t know that she wasn’t the first Lhakpa that I would make a movie about. I had spent several months in Tibet and climbing Everest to make my 2006 documentary Blindsight, which was about an expedition to Lhakpa mountain, which is the next mountain over from Everest on the north side. I had fallen in love with Tibet and its people and specifically Sherpa people, who are ethnically Tibetan, and who had been incredibly wise and wonderful partners on that film. Now, as the movie explains, there are only very few names in the Sherpa language, and Lhakpa is the name you get if you are born on a Wednesday, but still, it’s quite a coincidence to have made two movies about two towering Lhakpas. And for both to have their world premieres at Toronto Film Festival, 17 years apart, was a real marker of time in my career. That earlier film, Blindsight, about the first blind person to summit Everest, Erik Weihenmayer, and the blind woman who founded the only school for the blind in Tibet, Sabriye Tenberken, and how they take six blind teenage students up to climb Lhakpa mountain in order to show the world that it is not only privileged blind white guys who can accomplish great things, in many ways forms a diptych with this film.
I was able to make Mountain Queen because of all that I had learned making Blindsight. I knew immediately that we had to capture Lhakpa climbing Everest, and I knew exactly how to do that. I also knew how challenging that would be, but with our whole incredible team, and an extraordinary amount of hard work, and fortune favoring the bold, we were thrilled with how it all turned out. There was definitely a strong theme of team work throughout the climb of making the film, and I am in awe of the hard work of our entire team, because filmmaking like climbing is all about having the strongest team.
The team extends to the many other filmmakers, professional and amateur, whose materials we were able to gather and include in the film. Lhakpa’s first climb was in 2000, and the footage of that climb in particular was instrumental in my wanting to make Mountain Queen. Because for me one of the most thrilling aspects of our craft of documentary filmmaking is the opportunity for longitudinal storytelling using real film and video captured over decades. I am fascinated by editing together clips of somebody’s life that have been taken over decades, to see how their lives have unfolded. An always inspiration for me to want to make nonfiction films is the Up Series, which follows the unfolding lives of a group of British people by catching up with them every seven years, hence 7 Up. I think of my films as character-driven narratives, like scripted films but ones in which unfolding existence is my co-writer, for example following Amish teenagers through their rumspringa years in my first feature Devil’s Playground (2002), or the artist Vik Muniz’s collaboration with the catadores in the world’s largest garbage dump in Waste Land (2010), or our blind protagonists climbing Lhakpa mountain in Blindsight (2006).
In the case of Mountain Queen, I was so intrigued by the film Daughters of Everest, which documented the 2000 expedition which Lhakpa instigated and led, but which is not focused on Lhakpa, that it became a big part of my being sure that I wanted to pursue making this film. I knew that if we could include it, it would be riveting for the audience. I was blown away by watching Lhakpa aged 26, desperately shy and ashamed of her status as a single mother, but 100% self-possessed and unafraid and determined to become the first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive, with the very clear purpose of proving that women what women can do and inspiring women and girls to fulfill their potential and to be empowered by nature and the outdoors and by being active. So I asked the incredible filmmakers, Sapana Sakaya and Ramyata Limyu, if they might possibly share their dailies with me, so that I could unlock more of what they’d filmed with Lhakpa, and it is an enormous testament to their generosity and collaborative vision that they allowed me to comb through all their footage in order to include that historic part of the story in our film. I also owe terrific debt of thanks to the incredible lengths which so many people went to, digging through old storage to find video and photos, and being so extremely kind as to share them with me, in order to do justice to Lhakpa’s story. I want to single out Michael Kodas in particular, who provided all the video and photos from the jaw-dropping 2004 expedition. I have always thought that our archivist Gabriella Gallus is the best in the business, but who knew that she spoke Romanian! An incredible serendipity, which she put to great use, and she was able to gather the materials from 2003. All these pieces were especially important because of the events of 2014, in which as the film depicts, Lhakpa lost access to all her possessions, and so she herself had next to nothing by way of personal archive - which you would never guess, by looking at the rich sources that bring her fairytale of a life to the screen in such a vivid way.
I also knew from climbing up all the camps of Everest on the north side (in order to climb the mountain next door you take the same route up as if you were going to summit Everest, and only depart from the Everest route above 21,500’) that I would only slow down any climb, and that in my stead we had to hire a superstar high-altitude director of photography, so I was overjoyed when Matt Irving was available. I didn’t dream that he would manage to summit Everest while shooting, because that is not something that you can usually demand of your collaborators, but I couldn’t even dream of what he’d be able to accomplish. And I knew we should also give cameras to Lhakpa’s family climbing team of Sherpas, and train them to shoot and explain to them the kinds of shots that we could us, and wow were we glad that we did, because it was incredible to see their climbs through their shots. And I knew that Tahria Sheather who was the most capable field producer I’ve ever seen could also climb, including through the icefall, which is a very scary feat and lies immediately past Base Camp on the Nepal, or South, side which is the route we took in spring 2022.
The movie is a fairytale of a magical life, and it is also deeply feminist fable, or, as Lhakpa might say, it’s about the inspiration “woman power”. Lhakpa has stood up and fought for women and girls, determined to prove what women and girls are capable of, especially in her home region where she feels women enjoy less freedom and opportunity than in the country which she immigrated to, and loves, the USA. She wants women and girls to be inspired by her to climb higher, reach farther, pursue their dreams, attain their goals, and gain strength and healing and empowerment from nature and the outdoors and being active, which for her are her doctor, her antidepressant, and her spirituality. For Sherpa people, Everest is called Chomolungma, the “Goddess Mother of the World”, for Lhakpa it is an act of spiritual purification and prayer to climb it, as well as a fierce defiance of the limitations placed on women and on Sherpa people. It is noteworthy that when Lhakpa climbed in 2022, how refreshing it was that her team was all Sherpa. They were not employees of white Westerners. It is obviously overdue that stories about Everest center Sherpa people.
Lhakpa embodies a stunning strength and resilience. Many people who succeed “are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple”, said coach B. Switzer. Lhakpa’s life is the opposite to this. She was born not knowing that the sport existed, and being actively disallowed from playing it once she discovered it. Her courage, vision, faith, and relentlessness are breathtaking. And that is before she sets foot on Everest - for the first time. Now, having found a way to climb it ten times, I want to emphasize what a feat that is, because she was not someone who could ever afford to climb it by paying. She had to find a way to do it without any money of her own, and she accomplished that ten times. And then, because even after she accomplished that, last year in 2023 she still felt that people underestimated her technical climbing skills, so she set out to climb K2, the second-highest and most feared and notorious mountain in the world, and summited that on her first attempt as well. And I want to shout: what is happening with how women and their accomplishments are acknowledged, that Lhakpa still felt the need to prove herself, even after having climbed Everest ten times, by far beating any other woman of any nationality (the next being Melissa Arnot, who’s done it six times)? Because the answer to why Lhakpa climbed Everest ten times is that she kept doing it until anybody really gave her credit for it. I hope that the movie will help her accomplish this goal, for her and for the benefit of all of us.
But in her life off the mountain, she has been hurt, almost mortally, and - as the film so viscerally tells - physically. In pursuing, as she describes it, “what her heart wants”, she has been dealt cruel blows, especially by the two men whom she trusted the most in her life. Having escaped arranged marriage, her two “love marriages” laid her low and brought her to heartbreaking lows in her physical living conditions and emotional states, suffering acutely from depression and discouragement and feelings of personal shame. I knew it would be important for this film to share that someone so uniquely, demonstrably strong could also be so vulnerable. I know millions of viewers will relate to Lhakpa all around the world, which is why Netflix is the perfect partner to share her story with the broadest global audience, where members worldwide will be forever inspired by the unforgettable Lhakpa Sherpa.
And there is so much more to Lhakpa, and to her story. She is as funny as she is fierce. There was so, so much to her - not to mention her incredible family - that it was a very tall order for the film to justice to her… an order as tall as Everest…
I am so proud that so many people will have the opportunity to see what I see and feel in the story of our Mountain Queen and the Summits of her life.
If anyone watching Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa is moved to help Lhakpa, you can:
1. Donate to Lhakpa's nonprofit to help fund community hikes and motivational programs at https://creative-visions.networkforgood.com/projects/230442-lhakpa-sherpa-climb-any-mountain-initiative-s-fundraiser
2. Support Lhakpa and her family directly through their GoFundMe at http://gofundme.com/f/lhakpa-sherpa.
3. Get involved with Lhakpa's climbing guide business at http://cloudscapeclimbing.com.
Every contribution helps Lhakpa continue her incredible journey. Thank you ❤️️
SYNOPSIS
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa tracks Lhakpa’s storied mountaineering career against her record-breaking 10th summit to reveal a rich personal history – from her childhood as a girl denied an education in rural Nepal, to her experience as an immigrant in America and survivor of intimate partner violence, to her fight to live as a fearless example to her teenage daughters. Through it all, Lhakpa climbs - her incredible strength and resilience inspired by her own mother goddess of the universe - Chomolungma, Mt. Everest.
Lhakpa Sherpa has summited Mt. Everest more than any woman in history. The first Nepali woman to summit and descend in 2000, Lhakpa keeps climbing in pursuit of a better life for herself and her children and to champion Nepali women and girls. The film highlights the incredible determination of mothers fighting to protect and inspire their children.
Above all, Lhakpa’s story is one of a family surviving, healing, and climbing forward.
Awards
*The Producers Guild of America, Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture nomination
*Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, Best Sports Doc nomination
*#1 best Docutmentary of 2024, POV Magazine
*Robert and Anne Drew Award for Best Doc Film
*Kendal Mountain Film Fest, Best Film
*Cinema Eye, Unforgettables, winner
*Cinema Eye, Audience Award nomination
*San Diego International Film Festival, Humanitarian Award
*Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), Audience Choice Award Award for Best Feature
*Toronto International Film Festival, People’s Choice Award Second Runner-up
*Mountainfilm, Charlie Fowler Best Adventure Film Award
*Sheffield DocFest, Audience Favorite
Press Quotes
“Everest has provided the dizzying backdrop for numerous documentaries about famous mountaineers. The latest addition to the oeuvre, called Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, is one of the best.”
Outside
“I expected a portrait of an incredibly strong woman, and that's an apt description for Mountain Queen. But Lhakpa's story is much more complicated than that”
The New York Times
“poignant and heart-pounding”
Variety
“Open, honest with herself and never exuding false humility, [Lhakpa]’s a dream subject for this kind of portrait”
The Telegraph
“More remarkable than Sherpa’s physical achievements, though, is the depth the film goes to in revealing her personal life...”
The Guardian
“a gripping mountain adventure tale and a moving exploration of family strife...Walker skillfully and vividly recounts Lhakpa’s often astonishing life story.”
Filmmaker Magazine
“As far as mountain movies go, no doc has ever captured Everest quite like Mountain Queen. The details of Everest are on full display here: the attitude, the grade, the wind, and the cold, but most significantly, the spiritual power that fuels Lhakpa. This exhilarating film should make many mountain queens by inspiring viewers to conquer the impossible.”
POV Magazine
“Inspiring”
Financial Times
“...paints an almost perfect literal and metaphorical picture of an epic journey to the top of the world…If this film doesn’t uplift, move and empower you, I’m afraid nothing will.”
Business Doc Europe
Mountain Queen was made independently and premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, where it received a rapturous reception and was acquired by Netflix. It is available to watch on Netflix globally.
Here is the trailer:
Director’s Statement
The first time that Lhakpa and I met, she told me that her daughter Shiny had looked me up online and knew that I was the one who would finally tell her story. Then she burst into tears, and of course so did I, and we both knew it had to happen. She is exactly the kind of person who inspires me and whom I love to make films about, people for whom life has not been easy, but who meet challenge with grace and courage. I related to her on so many levels. And I was blown away by her mountaineering accomplishments, but - and here’s the thing - even more so by what she has surmounted in her life off the mountain.
Growing up in a remote region of Nepal far enough from Everest that she had never seen white people and when the first tourists trekked into her village when she was very young her mom and siblings ran away screaming, thinking they were yetis come to grab them, the mythical monsters who lived in the unknown lands beyond her valley, Lhakpa’s life has been a fairytale starring the bravest girl in the world. She was denied an education which at the time was allowed only for boys, and dedicated her life to fighting for opportunities for women and girls. She escaped an arranged marriage by chopping off her hair and passing herself off as a boy in order to become the first girl in her village to work as first a porter and then being promoted to “kitchenboy” on the first tourist treks in her region. But having held out for a “love marriage”, she was betrayed, and found herself once again experiencing the cruelty of the world’s double standards for women…. and that’s just the beginning of the story, which only gets more breathtaking from there. I knew instantly that I wanted to structure the movie around “the summits” of Lhakpa’s life, and to organize the film by following her Everest climb and organizing the backstory of her previous life summits and Everest summits as “stations of the cross” along the route.
And what’s funny is that what Lhakpa didn’t know that she wasn’t the first Lhakpa that I would make a movie about. I had spent several months in Tibet and climbing Everest to make my 2006 documentary Blindsight, which was about an expedition to Lhakpa mountain, which is the next mountain over from Everest on the north side. I had fallen in love with Tibet and its people and specifically Sherpa people, who are ethnically Tibetan, and who had been incredibly wise and wonderful partners on that film. Now, as the movie explains, there are only very few names in the Sherpa language, and Lhakpa is the name you get if you are born on a Wednesday, but still, it’s quite a coincidence to have made two movies about two towering Lhakpas. And for both to have their world premieres at Toronto Film Festival, 17 years apart, was a real marker of time in my career. That earlier film, Blindsight, about the first blind person to summit Everest, Erik Weihenmayer, and the blind woman who founded the only school for the blind in Tibet, Sabriye Tenberken, and how they take six blind teenage students up to climb Lhakpa mountain in order to show the world that it is not only privileged blind white guys who can accomplish great things, in many ways forms a diptych with this film.
I was able to make Mountain Queen because of all that I had learned making Blindsight. I knew immediately that we had to capture Lhakpa climbing Everest, and I knew exactly how to do that. I also knew how challenging that would be, but with our whole incredible team, and an extraordinary amount of hard work, and fortune favoring the bold, we were thrilled with how it all turned out. There was definitely a strong theme of team work throughout the climb of making the film, and I am in awe of the hard work of our entire team, because filmmaking like climbing is all about having the strongest team.
The team extends to the many other filmmakers, professional and amateur, whose materials we were able to gather and include in the film. Lhakpa’s first climb was in 2000, and the footage of that climb in particular was instrumental in my wanting to make Mountain Queen. Because for me one of the most thrilling aspects of our craft of documentary filmmaking is the opportunity for longitudinal storytelling using real film and video captured over decades. I am fascinated by editing together clips of somebody’s life that have been taken over decades, to see how their lives have unfolded. An always inspiration for me to want to make nonfiction films is the Up Series, which follows the unfolding lives of a group of British people by catching up with them every seven years, hence 7 Up. I think of my films as character-driven narratives, like scripted films but ones in which unfolding existence is my co-writer, for example following Amish teenagers through their rumspringa years in my first feature Devil’s Playground (2002), or the artist Vik Muniz’s collaboration with the catadores in the world’s largest garbage dump in Waste Land (2010), or our blind protagonists climbing Lhakpa mountain in Blindsight (2006).
In the case of Mountain Queen, I was so intrigued by the film Daughters of Everest, which documented the 2000 expedition which Lhakpa instigated and led, but which is not focused on Lhakpa, that it became a big part of my being sure that I wanted to pursue making this film. I knew that if we could include it, it would be riveting for the audience. I was blown away by watching Lhakpa aged 26, desperately shy and ashamed of her status as a single mother, but 100% self-possessed and unafraid and determined to become the first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive, with the very clear purpose of proving that women what women can do and inspiring women and girls to fulfill their potential and to be empowered by nature and the outdoors and by being active. So I asked the incredible filmmakers, Sapana Sakaya and Ramyata Limyu, if they might possibly share their dailies with me, so that I could unlock more of what they’d filmed with Lhakpa, and it is an enormous testament to their generosity and collaborative vision that they allowed me to comb through all their footage in order to include that historic part of the story in our film. I also owe terrific debt of thanks to the incredible lengths which so many people went to, digging through old storage to find video and photos, and being so extremely kind as to share them with me, in order to do justice to Lhakpa’s story. I want to single out Michael Kodas in particular, who provided all the video and photos from the jaw-dropping 2004 expedition. I have always thought that our archivist Gabriella Gallus is the best in the business, but who knew that she spoke Romanian! An incredible serendipity, which she put to great use, and she was able to gather the materials from 2003. All these pieces were especially important because of the events of 2014, in which as the film depicts, Lhakpa lost access to all her possessions, and so she herself had next to nothing by way of personal archive - which you would never guess, by looking at the rich sources that bring her fairytale of a life to the screen in such a vivid way.
I also knew from climbing up all the camps of Everest on the north side (in order to climb the mountain next door you take the same route up as if you were going to summit Everest, and only depart from the Everest route above 21,500’) that I would only slow down any climb, and that in my stead we had to hire a superstar high-altitude director of photography, so I was overjoyed when Matt Irving was available. I didn’t dream that he would manage to summit Everest while shooting, because that is not something that you can usually demand of your collaborators, but I couldn’t even dream of what he’d be able to accomplish. And I knew we should also give cameras to Lhakpa’s family climbing team of Sherpas, and train them to shoot and explain to them the kinds of shots that we could us, and wow were we glad that we did, because it was incredible to see their climbs through their shots. And I knew that Tahria Sheather who was the most capable field producer I’ve ever seen could also climb, including through the icefall, which is a very scary feat and lies immediately past Base Camp on the Nepal, or South, side which is the route we took in spring 2022.
The movie is a fairytale of a magical life, and it is also deeply feminist fable, or, as Lhakpa might say, it’s about the inspiration “woman power”. Lhakpa has stood up and fought for women and girls, determined to prove what women and girls are capable of, especially in her home region where she feels women enjoy less freedom and opportunity than in the country which she immigrated to, and loves, the USA. She wants women and girls to be inspired by her to climb higher, reach farther, pursue their dreams, attain their goals, and gain strength and healing and empowerment from nature and the outdoors and being active, which for her are her doctor, her antidepressant, and her spirituality. For Sherpa people, Everest is called Chomolungma, the “Goddess Mother of the World”, for Lhakpa it is an act of spiritual purification and prayer to climb it, as well as a fierce defiance of the limitations placed on women and on Sherpa people. It is noteworthy that when Lhakpa climbed in 2022, how refreshing it was that her team was all Sherpa. They were not employees of white Westerners. It is obviously overdue that stories about Everest center Sherpa people.
Lhakpa embodies a stunning strength and resilience. Many people who succeed “are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple”, said coach B. Switzer. Lhakpa’s life is the opposite to this. She was born not knowing that the sport existed, and being actively disallowed from playing it once she discovered it. Her courage, vision, faith, and relentlessness are breathtaking. And that is before she sets foot on Everest - for the first time. Now, having found a way to climb it ten times, I want to emphasize what a feat that is, because she was not someone who could ever afford to climb it by paying. She had to find a way to do it without any money of her own, and she accomplished that ten times. And then, because even after she accomplished that, last year in 2023 she still felt that people underestimated her technical climbing skills, so she set out to climb K2, the second-highest and most feared and notorious mountain in the world, and summited that on her first attempt as well. And I want to shout: what is happening with how women and their accomplishments are acknowledged, that Lhakpa still felt the need to prove herself, even after having climbed Everest ten times, by far beating any other woman of any nationality (the next being Melissa Arnot, who’s done it six times)? Because the answer to why Lhakpa climbed Everest ten times is that she kept doing it until anybody really gave her credit for it. I hope that the movie will help her accomplish this goal, for her and for the benefit of all of us.
But in her life off the mountain, she has been hurt, almost mortally, and - as the film so viscerally tells - physically. In pursuing, as she describes it, “what her heart wants”, she has been dealt cruel blows, especially by the two men whom she trusted the most in her life. Having escaped arranged marriage, her two “love marriages” laid her low and brought her to heartbreaking lows in her physical living conditions and emotional states, suffering acutely from depression and discouragement and feelings of personal shame. I knew it would be important for this film to share that someone so uniquely, demonstrably strong could also be so vulnerable. I know millions of viewers will relate to Lhakpa all around the world, which is why Netflix is the perfect partner to share her story with the broadest global audience, where members worldwide will be forever inspired by the unforgettable Lhakpa Sherpa.
And there is so much more to Lhakpa, and to her story. She is as funny as she is fierce. There was so, so much to her - not to mention her incredible family - that it was a very tall order for the film to justice to her… an order as tall as Everest…
I am so proud that so many people will have the opportunity to see what I see and feel in the story of our Mountain Queen and the Summits of her life.
If anyone watching Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa is moved to help Lhakpa, you can:
1. Donate to Lhakpa's nonprofit to help fund community hikes and motivational programs at https://creative-visions.networkforgood.com/projects/230442-lhakpa-sherpa-climb-any-mountain-initiative-s-fundraiser
2. Support Lhakpa and her family directly through their GoFundMe at http://gofundme.com/f/lhakpa-sherpa.
3. Get involved with Lhakpa's climbing guide business at http://cloudscapeclimbing.com.
Every contribution helps Lhakpa continue her incredible journey. Thank you ❤️️
SYNOPSIS
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa tracks Lhakpa’s storied mountaineering career against her record-breaking 10th summit to reveal a rich personal history – from her childhood as a girl denied an education in rural Nepal, to her experience as an immigrant in America and survivor of intimate partner violence, to her fight to live as a fearless example to her teenage daughters. Through it all, Lhakpa climbs - her incredible strength and resilience inspired by her own mother goddess of the universe - Chomolungma, Mt. Everest.
Lhakpa Sherpa has summited Mt. Everest more than any woman in history. The first Nepali woman to summit and descend in 2000, Lhakpa keeps climbing in pursuit of a better life for herself and her children and to champion Nepali women and girls. The film highlights the incredible determination of mothers fighting to protect and inspire their children.
Above all, Lhakpa’s story is one of a family surviving, healing, and climbing forward.
Awards
*The Producers Guild of America, Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture nomination
*Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, Best Sports Doc nomination
*#1 best Docutmentary of 2024, POV Magazine
*Robert and Anne Drew Award for Best Doc Film
*Kendal Mountain Film Fest, Best Film
*Cinema Eye, Unforgettables, winner
*Cinema Eye, Audience Award nomination
*San Diego International Film Festival, Humanitarian Award
*Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), Audience Choice Award Award for Best Feature
*Toronto International Film Festival, People’s Choice Award Second Runner-up
*Mountainfilm, Charlie Fowler Best Adventure Film Award
*Sheffield DocFest, Audience Favorite
Press Quotes
“Everest has provided the dizzying backdrop for numerous documentaries about famous mountaineers. The latest addition to the oeuvre, called Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, is one of the best.”
Outside
“I expected a portrait of an incredibly strong woman, and that's an apt description for Mountain Queen. But Lhakpa's story is much more complicated than that”
The New York Times
“poignant and heart-pounding”
Variety
“Open, honest with herself and never exuding false humility, [Lhakpa]’s a dream subject for this kind of portrait”
The Telegraph
“More remarkable than Sherpa’s physical achievements, though, is the depth the film goes to in revealing her personal life...”
The Guardian
“a gripping mountain adventure tale and a moving exploration of family strife...Walker skillfully and vividly recounts Lhakpa’s often astonishing life story.”
Filmmaker Magazine
“As far as mountain movies go, no doc has ever captured Everest quite like Mountain Queen. The details of Everest are on full display here: the attitude, the grade, the wind, and the cold, but most significantly, the spiritual power that fuels Lhakpa. This exhilarating film should make many mountain queens by inspiring viewers to conquer the impossible.”
POV Magazine
“Inspiring”
Financial Times
“...paints an almost perfect literal and metaphorical picture of an epic journey to the top of the world…If this film doesn’t uplift, move and empower you, I’m afraid nothing will.”
Business Doc Europe