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Slovak Porters: The Last in Europe
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Slovak Porters: The Last in Europe

28 MIN · EN · STATUS: [ STREAMING ]
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In the High Tatras of Slovakia, mountain huts still get their supplies the way they did a century ago: carried up on a man's back. Helicopters and cable cars replaced porters everywhere else in Europe, but strict nature-reserve rules and rugged terrain keep the job alive here. The film follows Števo Bačkor, 47, one of around 60 remaining porters, as he loads a self-built wooden frame with firewood or food, sometimes over 100 kilos, and climbs to the Zbojnícka hut at nearly 2,000 meters. It takes him just under three hours to gain 1,000 meters of elevation, and the cameras stay with him through the meditative rhythm he falls into to endure the strain, in snow, rain, and heat alike. Interviews reveal the toll the work takes, including porters who have died on delivery runs, commemorated each year in the Sherpa Rally memorial race. Bačkor's own words, that reaching the top leaves you exhausted but complete, sum up a trade that has no modern replacement in this UNESCO-protected range.