Catch two screenings of Pasang at The Pickford Film Center as part of their Doctober film festival October 28 at 5 p.m.. and on October 31 at 5:25 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
She had courage. She had incredible strength. She inspired a nation yet few know the story of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa’s historic journey to become the first Nepalese woman to summit Mt. Everest in 1993.
The Northwest premiere of “PASANG: In the Shadow of Everest” sold out during CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival last May. If you missed the film in May, you have another opportunity this month to see it when CASCADIA and the Pickford Film Center proudly present an encore screening: during the Pickford’s Doctober film festival.
As an uneducated, Indigenous woman and a Buddhist in a Hindu kingdom Pasang’s dream to scale the legendary mountain pits her against family,foreign climbers, her own government, and nature itself. Her determined pursuit of Everest plays out within the context of her nation’s quest for democracy and the emergence of the commercial climbing industry. As told by the Nepalis who knew her, her family, some of the world’s most notable alpinists, and by Pasang herself, her historic quest would transfix her country and uplift a new generation’s belief in its possibilities.
“She was a Buddhist in a Hindu kingdom, outside of the caste system entirely — an ‘out-caste’.”
NANCY SVENDSEN, DIRECTOR “PASANG”
From Story to Screen
Director Nancy Svendsen first learned of Pasang’s amazing story ten years ago from her brother-in-law, Dorjee Sherpa, Pasang’s oldest brother, who appears in the film. “I was immediately drawn to Pasang’s story when my brother-in-law, Dorjee Sherpa, first told me about his sister. As a Sherpa (Indigenous) woman in the 1990s in Nepal, Pasang had very few rights.
“She fought multiplying obstacles in her dream to summit Everest: her family, international climbers, her government, and the mountain itself. Her charisma reached out from the archival footage to me.”
BUY Your Tickets Now!
Tickets for the in-person movie can be found here. We encourage you to buy your tickets now for the two showings on October 28 at 5 p.m.. and on October 31 at 5:25 p.m. Seating at the Pickford is limited and we expect the film to sell out. Masks may be required by the theater. Nancy Svendsen, left, director of “PASANG: In the Shadow of Everest” with Dorjee Sherpa and CASCADIA’s Program Director, Claudia Puig, at the festival.