It’s not just about motorbikes. We used lots of different forms of transport and filmed the people we met along the way.

We literally moved from stone-age in Papua New Guinea to the most industrialised and sophisticated world in Japan.

It was exhilarating to discover many new corners of our world. But it is also disturbing to realise first hand how many environmental and social challenges we are all facing. I perceive the threats in the following order:

1) overpopulation

2) blind consumerism and excessive waste

3) lack of education and a shortage of jobs

I’m also asking myself, whether we will ever find common ground between numerous conflicting value systems in terms of religion, politics and economy.

West Papua, the Indonesian occupied part of New Guinea, is a good example of such conflicts. For BAM2 we didn’t get the permits to travel there. Obviously, the Indonesian government has something to hide. They commit systematic human rights abuses against the indigenous Papuans. Why don’t we hear about it? Because there is an international complicity to hide the embarrassing truth.

West Papua has enormous reserves of copper, gold, oil and gas. In 1963 the Indonesians invaded this wealthy territory and with the help of numerous foreign companies they started many lucrative mining businesses. One of the biggest tax payers in Indonesia is the American controlled Freeport-McMoran copper mine in Tembagapura. They are key players in the plunder of illegally occupied land and don’t care about the inherent West Papuan right to sovereignty.

It’s a typical hypocrisy of the industrialised world. We pretend to promote freedom, democracy and human rights, but when it comes to economic supremacy, money and power politics we happily collaborate with criminal and corrupt regimes.

New York Times article about the Freeport-McMoran controversy (April 2006)

I worked once again with Jim Foster. He filmed with Nigel Bearsley, a Church of England priest and I walked in the footsteps of Bill Gates (not the one you think), a Methodist minister. Both of them work for the Royal Navy and follow the troops where ever they go. We ended up in Helmand Province where the Royal Marines 45 Commando are fighting a very difficult battle against the Taliban.

Broadcast Date: 12 July 2009 (as part of a series called ‘Revelations’)

Back into history:

I just found a picture of 1985, my early days in Afghanistan, the beginning of my documentary filmmaker career. Surviging all these many years without any major incidences I must have had a very busy guardian angel. At the time I followed a group of Afghan Mujahedin who were fighting against the Sovjet occupation. 24 years later, not much has changed. Instead of the Russians the Afghans are now fighting Western Forces. They will always hate invaders.