Hiddleston opens Zurich with Tenzing and takes Golden Eye honour
Tom Hiddleston opened the 2026 Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 24 with the European premiere of Tenzing and received the festival's Golden Eye Award on the same night, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The Golden Eye is Zurich's career honour. The 2026 festival is now underway in Switzerland.
Tenzing had its first screening in Europe as the opening film. That means no audience in Europe had seen it on a big screen before Zurich. Hiddleston attended the screening with co-star Willem Dafoe and director-writer Jennifer Peedom.
The film is an Apple drama about the race to the top of Mount Everest. It follows the true story of Nepalese-Indian Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand alpinist Edmund Hillary. In 1953 the pair became the first people to reach the summit, the highest point on earth.
Genden Phuntsok plays Norgay opposite Hiddleston as Hillary, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Willem Dafoe plays Colonel John Hunt, the leader of the British expedition team. Thinley Lhamo plays Norgay's wife Dawa, and Caitriona Balfe co-stars as expedition secretary Jill Henderson, the team member who handled office work and logistics.
Peedom directed the film and wrote the script. She joined Hiddleston and Dafoe in Zurich for the opening-night screening. The festival lists this year as its 22nd edition, with the opening held at the Kongresshaus, according to the Zurich Film Festival.
Zurich recognised Hiddleston for work that includes Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the linked series of Marvel superhero films, as well as The Night Manager on television and the films War Horse and Midnight in Paris. The festival presents the Golden Eye for an outstanding career. Festival updates had flagged Sept. 24 for Hiddleston's arrival with the European premiere.
What makes this stand out is the pairing of star and story. An opening film sets the tone for the days that follow, and Zurich chose an expedition account told from both ends of the rope. For fans, this means the launch began not with a speech but with a climb.
