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FRI NIGHT VID: The Porter - The Untold Story at Everest - Q&A at 7pm

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 UKC News 14 Aug 2020

In this week's Friday Night Video, a young American attempts to work as a porter on an Everest expedition. In doing so, he experiences the injustices faced by the local people. This is an inside look at what it's really like to work one of the hardest jobs on the planet. 

Director Nate Menninger told UKC:

"Last year, I naively set out to become one of the first ever foreign-born Porters to aid a Mt. Everest Expedition. Eating, sleeping, dressing and working, I immersed myself in the job's requirements as deeply as I could. Not showering for 23 days, losing 20 pounds by the end and carrying 100 kilos too, we captured the entire attempt on camera. We walked into a reality far over our heads."


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 Darron 14 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

By a country mile the best Fri night vid I’ve seen on here.

1
Gone for good 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

A film well worth watching and very thought provoking. Portering for trekking clients is one thing. Portering the consumable supplies (Beer and chocolate bars etc) from Lukla to Namche is quite different and has even worse pay and conditions attached and no tips. Those porters carry horrendous loads and don't get food and shelter as part of the deal. Still, if there were no trekkers what work would there be? Its a vicious circle.

 Derek Ryden 15 Aug 2020
In reply to Darron:

Agreed. Quite superb.

1
 mattck 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

That was an enjoyable watch.

Post edited at 11:48
2
 Fletch168 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

WOW! Real good Fri Night Vid. Amazing & Inspiring, thank you.

 Chris_Mellor 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

Excellent movie from a cool DIY dude. 

 MisterPiggy 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

Excellent film.

Fascinating look into life of the porter. Language fluency helped a lot, breaking the ice and bringing our hero closer to the porters he wanted to follow - the film would've been much different, even impossible, without that.

One would hope that the clients give generously, but I fear that they're ignorant of the economics of the porter life and under tip.

Such loads, for such distances and for so long... Kudos !!!

 PaulJepson 15 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

I thought that regulations brought in relatively recently limited the weight of loads that porters were allowed to carry? 

 wert 16 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News: Very impressed that he can speak Nepalese. 

 pneame 17 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

An outstanding and wonderful film - and quite an eye opener. Also an object lesson in how to get on with people - speak their language! 

In reply to UKC News:

Director and star of the film Nate Menniger will be around from 7pm tonight and answering any questions you might have.

I'll start off with mine:

Nate, from a filmmaking perspective, I was wondering how many stylistic choices you made in advance? The film is extremely well edited and shot, so did you focus on things such as camera movement (i.e. shot on a gimbal) and the idea of shooting it on a very fly-on-the-wall, vérité style where you didn't talk directly to camera much? And then when it came to the edit, there seemed to be some distinct choices like not including any music, no voiceover, and the pacing of the film was very consistent throughout - did you achieve what you set out to?

Post edited at 17:10
 full stottie 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Nick Brown - UKC:

> Director and star of the film Nate Menniger will be around from 7pm tonight and answering any questions you might have.

> I'll start off with mine:

> Nate, from a filmmaking perspective, I was wondering how many stylistic choices you made in advance? The film is extremely well edited and shot, so did you focus on things such as camera movement (i.e. shot on a gimbal) and the idea of shooting it on a very fly-on-the-wall, vérité style where you didn't talk directly to camera much? And then when it came to the edit, there seemed to be some distinct choices like not including any music, no voiceover, and the pacing of the film was very consistent throughout - did you achieve what you set out to?

Well Nick, that's a very technocratic response to a film that was primarily focussed on global inequality, exploitation, persistence, endurance, privilege, poverty, and I could go on, ....sometimes the most powerful of messages can be subordinated by considerations about methodology, although to be fair, you did preface your question with the phrase 'from a film-making perspective'. Of all the feelings this film invoked for me, filming technique was well down the list. Each to their own, I suppose. I found the film humbling, thought-provoking and magnifying widespread and deep injustice. My admiration and empathy for the Nepali porters was amplified by the film. 

6
njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

Hey there! It's great to be here and thank you so much UKC for sharing this film with your community. And also, to everyone else for watching it! I hope I can answer all your questions and wish I could ask some of my own. Feel free to ask me anything. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Darron:

Thanks for watching Darron. Glad it was a good Friday night. Hopefully we can continue to share it with the world. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Gone for good:

I wish I learned more about life as a Local Porter, a.k.a of contract porters working for hotels as opposed to those working for clients. Some of our porters broke off to pick up other daily jobs, but I never learned too much about their life. I believe we probably stayed in the same home and our food and shelter wasn't covered either unfortunately. It's definitely a viscous cycle right now, but I hope the film doesn't express that the job isn't needed. I just feel the system just has to be adapted to how everything has changed. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to MisterPiggy:

Thank so much for the kind words. Hopefully this film can help bridge the gap a bit and expose the conditions that Porters live under. Their segregated houses, bathrooms, meals and other daily circumstances. And of course, the economics behind it too. Tips would help greatly, but so would an increased salary. In that case, I don't think I would've depended on the tip so much. And the rift between clients and porters might not grow as large in the case of low tips. Definitely think all sides got to come together. Thanks again MisterPiggy - haha, that's funny to type. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to PaulJepson:

There are government regulations that limit weights for expedition porters to 25 kilos - though this is not always strictly adhered. There are different rules for Everest as well which are a bit more enforced. But local porters, those carrying goods to hotels and restaurants to supply the area with everything, everyone needs for survival, do not have any restrictions to my knowledge. That's why some carry massive loads for more money. Again, to my knowledge. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to wert:

I don't think if I'm quite as fluent as the film makes me out to be...sometimes, I got lost too. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Nick Brown - UKC:

Nick! 

Thanks for the question man, and it's a good one. I wasn't a filmmaker before this, just this self-proclaimed adventurer, so going in, I wanted the camera to capture me in the moment. I didn't want to acknowledge it and I wanted it to be filming 24/7. With just two of us, that would've been quite hard. But Babin worked incredibly hard and gave me some incredible footage to work with in post, which again, I hadn't done much before either. We did pick certain tools like the gimbal and a tripod, a couple lenses and an external mic, but for the most part, it was a pretty raw, immersive shoot. Because after all, I knew very little. 

It's awesome that you picked up on those choices in post. For music, I cut the full film without it. Afterwards, there came a point when I was about to sign a contract for a score. The composer was phenomenal, but to shell out so much money didn't seem appropriate at the time. And I grew to like the idea of recreating the experience as best I could, which didn't include music apart from when others were listening....I am interested to know what it would be like with Music, but maybe that's for the future. I like the decision I made. As for Voiceover, we tried that. It was terrible. My voice is terrible. And the pacing of the film just felt natural to me. Guess it's just how it came out. Hope that helps. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to full stottie:

That's amazing to read. In truth, the goal was a bit to make you forget that the camera was there. To put you there in my shoes, as I was attempting to follow in those of a Porter. I am glad I could bring you there and pass on what it was like. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to mattck:

Much appreciated mattck

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Derek Ryden

Thanks for watching Derek. Much appreciated. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Fletch168:

Ya, ya! Glad you watched it and hopefully we can continue passing it on. 

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to Chris_Mellor:

Thanks eroica for the note. And for watching. It's awesome to share it with the UK.

 scoth 18 Aug 2020
In reply to njmenninger:

Hi Nate, I really enjoyed the film.

I spent 6 months in Nepal in 2014, and it certainly brought back lots of fond memories, particularly the Nepali sense of humour.

I'm interested in 'story' and who's telling the story and how it gets told, particularly with a camera. So I guess this is hard question for you to answer, but if the porters were given the camera and they shot and edited the film, what sort of story do you think they would tell? Do you think it would be much different to the film? Cheers Scott

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to scoth:

Hey Scott. I'm happy to hear the film brought back some memories of Nepal for you. I hope it always can. 

I think when making the film, I tired as hard as I could to make something that would be okay with Porters, but in reality, I could only guess at what that would be. Only attempt to recreate what I felt when doing it. In the end, I'm sure the film can only really tell my side of the story, which I'm sure is biased, but I hope it relates more of the bigger picture.

I sent the film at one point over to a fellow porter — I was super nervous because it was the first time I'd be showing it to a Porter — and he felt it wasn't bad enough. That I missed certain ascents and days that were really hard on. So, I'm sure a film would definitely be different. But I don't really know how. 

Thanks brotha!

njmenninger 18 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

Thanks for watching everyone and for asking questions too. If you ever want to reach out and chat or catch up or ask me another question or anything else, feel free to email me at n.menninger1@gmail.com. Always love connecting and am pumped you guys got a chance to watch the film. Until next time! - Nate M. 

 scoth 18 Aug 2020
In reply to njmenninger:

Thanks Nate. I really appreciate your response. It's interesting to hear the porter didn't think it was bad enough, given the general Nepali way of wanting to please. I know from my time there,  I experienced a definite hierarchy between the porters, walking guides and the local points of contact for the expedition operators, which didn't always lead to things being fair. The uncertainty on tips, combined with the standard low wage, certainly encouraged porters to carry an extra load or as shown in the film do a load on a rest day. Also many of the porters as shown in the film are from lowland areas, so suffer from altitude sickness. Maybe things have improved since I was there.

I suppose it's always going to be difficult to tell really how it is for the porters from your perspective, either way I think you produced a great wee film. Hopefully those who watch the film and go to Nepal, use the porters that are there and tip properly.

Thanks again.

 

 The Grist 20 Aug 2020
In reply to UKC News:

really enjoyed that. Thanks for posting and well done to all involved in making the film. if I ever go back to Nepal I will look upon the porters in a new light. 


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