Skip to main content

RAI FILM Festival takes place on 27-30 March 2025. Learn more.

Search our film database
2019

Mobail Goroka

Directed by Jackie Kauli

2018 – 17'

Synopsis

Glossy advertisements for telecommunications company Digicel abound in Goroka, a town in Papua New Guinea’s eastern highlands. This film takes a close look at the footsoldiers of this multinational giant: the men who sell phone credit and and fix devices from their Digicel-branded stalls that line the town’s streets. We learn of the daily routines, histories and aspirations of Luke, Joseph, and Michael, resourceful and ambitious men who take advantage of every opportunity the emerging telecommunications market has given them. A valuable glimpse at life on the ground floor of neoliberal global enterprise.

The documentary Mobail Goroka tells the story of Luke Natapol, Joseph Kaupa and Michael Agwa who all earn money by operating street stalls that provide mobile phone services. Highlighting their daily routines, the documentary shows how people respond to the logistical challenges and economic opportunities presented by new communication technologies.

View film website

RAI FILM Festival 2025

The next RAI FILM Festival will take place in person from 27-30 March 2025 at the Watershed Cinema and the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol (UK) and online throughout the month of April 2025.