 "Sherpas, Mt Everest")
The Discovery Network will premiere Sherpa, a film that recounts story of the 14 million ton massive avalanche that tore through Khumbu Icefall, Mt Everest, killing 16 Sherpas, on April 18 at 9 pm.
The choice of premiere date commemorates the date of the actual event - April 18, 2014. The airing of Sherpa will be a global television event that will be broadcast in more than 220 countries and territories.
The Sherpa people are an ethnic group in eastern Nepal.
The avalanche is recognized as the worst tragedy in history of Everest and sparked a drastic reassessment of the role of Sherpas in Everest climbing industry.
The film captures the story of Sherpa community, united in grief and anger as they reclaim the respected mountain they call Chomolungma.
The film was originally positioned to showcase upcoming climbing season from the Sherpas' point of view after a highly-publicized confrontation in 2013 between Western climbers and a group of Sherpas.
While capturing shifting dynamics of Everest climbing culture and legendary Sherpa Phurba Tashi's world record-breaking 22nd attempt to summit the mountain, the team witnessed and captured single deadliest day in the mountain's history after an avalanche struck just above Mt. Everest base camp.
Through first-hand live recordings, voices of guides themselves, their families, and climbers who were preparing to summit when the disaster struck, Sherpa chronicles the historic moment of tragedy and resistance in which the Sherpas and their families consider the future of Everest climbing.
Sherpa is produced by Bridget Ikin, co-founder of Felix Media, an independent film and television company in Australia, and John Smithson, joint creative director, Arrow Media, a UK based independent creative company and directed by Jennifer Peedom.
The documentary will be simulcast on three channels in the network - Discovery Channel, Discovery HD World and Discovery Tamil.
