“My life has hurt me,” says Lhakpa Sherpa in Mountain Queen. “Everest fix my soul.”
Netflix released the trailer for Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa ahead of its streaming debut on July 31. The film from Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker (Waste Land) tells the inspiring story of Sherpa’s quest to conquer Everest time after time. The thrilling film ascends the world’s tallest peak with Sherpa as she makes her tenth summit. The record-breaking climb proves a healing mission for Sherpa, too, as Walker integrates the climber’s courageous story of raising two daughters while escaping an abusive relationship from a man who shared her passion.
Mountain Queen debuted last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival where it screened as a work in progress project. The film brought the house down in public screenings with Netflix quickly snapping up the title among the more notable buys on the doc front. Mountain Queen scored the second runner-up title for the People’s Choice Award for documentary and was POV’s pick for “best of the fest” in a no-contest race.
“As far as mountain movies go, no doc has ever captured Everest quite like Mountain Queen,” I wrote in POV’s review from TIFF. “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.” It’s a strong contender for doc of the year.
Watch the trailer for Mountain Queen below.
The film streams on Netflix beginning July 31.
Synopsis: She’s the greatest Everest climber you’ve never heard of. Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa tracks Lhakpa Sherpa’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.