For ARD’s Weltspiegel Doku, Papua New Guinea Fixer organised a road trip through the Highlands with correspondent Florian Bahrdt and his crew in August 2024. This page covers how the shoot was organised; the story of the film is told in our article.
By Marc Dozier · Updated November 2026
Several regions in one trip
The film, Papua-Neuguinea extrem: Hölle oder Paradies?, was shot in August 2024 across several parts of the Highlands: around Goroka in Eastern Highlands Province, with the Asaro mudmen and a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) base; in Simbu Province; in Mount Hagen at the time of the Mount Hagen Show; and in Hela Province, where Huli chief Mundiya Kepanga welcomed the crew in his village of Dauli.
Papua New Guinea Fixer organised the shoot and travelled with the crew from one province to the next.
What producers can take from it
- Build the trip around the calendar. The big Highlands festivals take place on fixed dates. Planning the route around them adds scenes that are hard to get any other time of year.
- Prepare everything, then leave room. A road trip in the Highlands needs careful planning, and some slack in the schedule for the scenes nobody planned.
- Work with local voices. A host such as Mundiya Kepanga opens doors and gives the film a point of view from inside the country.
The film
| Original title | Papua-Neuguinea extrem: Hölle oder Paradies? |
| Broadcaster | ARD, Weltspiegel Doku (16 November 2024, 44 min) |
| Correspondent | Florian Bahrdt (ARD Southeast Asia studio) |
| Filmed | August 2024 |
| Locations | Eastern Highlands (Goroka, Asaro) · Simbu · Western Highlands (Mount Hagen) · Hela (Tari, Dauli) |
| Our role | Organisation of the shoot · fixer |
| Also | Weltspiegel podcast episode about the film (YouTube) |
Planning a road trip through the Highlands?
We plan the route, the stops and the meetings with communities.