For ARD’s Weltspiegel Doku, correspondent Florian Bahrdt travelled through the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, from Mundiya Kepanga’s village to an unplanned bride price ceremony.
Some call Papua New Guinea a hell, others a paradise. For its documentary Papua-Neuguinea extrem: Hölle oder Paradies? (Papua New Guinea Extreme: Hell or Paradise?), the German public broadcaster ARD sent correspondent Florian Bahrdt, from its Southeast Asia studio, on a road trip through the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. PNG Fixer organised the shoot.
A country between two worlds
The film, produced for ARD’s Weltspiegel Doku series and released in November 2024, explores a country of striking contrasts, rich in resources and caught between past and future. Along the way, the crew meets people who are shaping that future: a teacher who works tirelessly for her students, and a tribal chief who fights to preserve the rainforest.
In Dauli, with Mundiya Kepanga
That chief is Mundiya Kepanga. He welcomed the ARD crew with great kindness in Dauli, his village.
In front of the cameras, Mundiya and Florian Bahrdt talked about the importance of preserving primary forests. Mundiya then took the crew to see places where the forest had been damaged, not by outsiders, but by local communities who simply needed money and had sold their timber. For him, protecting the forest also means offering communities other ways to earn a living. (See: Guardians of the Forest.)
The scene nobody planned
On the road in Simbu Province, the crew suddenly came across a large bride price ceremony. The whole community welcomed us and allowed us to film. Food, pigs and money were laid out and exchanged for the wedding. The scene wasn’t in the plan, and it became one of the strongest sequences of the documentary.
Preparing a shoot in Papua New Guinea means organising a huge amount in advance. It also means being ready to capture what you never planned.
Expect the unexpected
The documentary ends with Mundiya’s own words: “Expect the unexpected!” It is the best summary of Papua New Guinea we know, and a motto we keep in mind on every shoot.
Watch the film (in German)
- 🎬 ARD Mediathek: Papua-Neuguinea extrem: Hölle oder Paradies?
- 🎧 Weltspiegel podcast on YouTube, an episode about the film: Papua-Neuguinea extrem: Hölle oder Paradies?
How we organised the shoot, region by region: ARD Weltspiegel production page.
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