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The Story of the fifth estate
ON THE ROAD
PAGES: 1 - 2 - 3

But it isn't all about danger and fear. There are also many funny, often absurd, circumstances that characterize life on the road. While working on a story about the connection between cattle on farms and E.coli contamination, Tremonti was doing a stand-up in a pasture.

Tremonti remembers she kept flubbing her lines, and the cows in the background kept moving around so they weren't always in the shot. As she concentrated on her lines, Tremonti noticed her producer and the crew staring at her wide-eyed. Glancing behind her, she jumped at the sight of a huge cow with its nose nudging against her.

Hana Gartner
Hana Gartner

Hana Gartner has been bitten by goats while trying to deliver a stand-up. And in the Falkland Islands, she was surrounded by a huge colony of giant King penguins, who seemed to be embracing her as one of their own.

For a story on the Ahiarmiut (the people of the deer), a nomadic tribe that are among the oldest communities on earth, Gartner flew to the far north, sleeping in a tent on permafrost with no electricity or other amenities.

It was a challenge for a self-confessed urban girl. "I am not a girl scout," Gartner says. "I don't do well in Algonquin Park. I had outfitted myself with a sleeping bag from Eddie Bauer and some equipment that was suitable for a fall sleepover in someone's backyard. The people we were going with met me at the airport, looked at what I'd brought, and just laughed. Someone was kind enough to give me their sleeping bag and some equipment."

meat
The Ahiarmiut

Gartner, who admired and liked the extraordinary Ahiarmiut, went hunting with them. After a kill, they hunters would butcher the animal on the spot and carry the pieces back to camp. Gartner found herself carrying viscera with blood dripping down her Eddie Bauer jacket.

Laughing, Gartner says: "On most assignments, after a long day shooting, we end up in a hotel, having a nice dinner. Here I squatted around a fire eating a dead raw fish. It was very difficult for me. I lost a lot of weight on this shoot."

NEXT> A DIFFICULT STORY TO TELL

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