Torres

Taken by the Winds.

Period Drama

Production Status: Short Film Completed- Feature in Development

Story written by James Vegter

Based from a true story in Australian History on how Australia really got its name.

FEATURE CONCEPT

How did the Torres Strait Islands get its name? On a recent trip, the Magic Lands team found out and we also discovered a mystery about how Australia got its name.

We dive back to 1605, three Spanish ships leave from Peru on the 21st of December on an expedition across the Pacific to discover the “Great Southern Land.” Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was a Portuguese navigator who commanded the three ships, San Pedro y San Pablo (60 tons), San Pedrico (40 tons) and Los Tres Reyes Magos. Luis Vaz de Torres (Torres Strait Islands) was in command of the San Pedrico.

In May 1606, Torres and Queiros reached a group of islands later known as the New Hebrides and Vanuatu. Quieros named the group La Australia del Espiritu Santo (Australia of the Holy Spirit.) The word Australia was intended to compliment Phillip 3rd of Spain, a Hapsburg sovereign and member of the House of Habsburg, Austria, to which the Spanish royal family belonged. The word chosen says Quieros was from his majesty title of Austria. On the 11th of June 1606, Queiros became separated from two other ships of his fleet in bad weather and then sailed to Acapulco, Mexico arriving in November 1606. Torres believes whoever was in charge of the San Pedro y San Pablo departed intentionally, saying, “we couldn't find them, for they did not sail on the proper course, nor with good intention.” Rather than abandon the voyage, and steer back to Callao, Torres resolved that he would not return until he had achieved some amount of exploration.

In July 1606, Torres, unable to make the north coast of Guinea due to winds, turned east to follow the south coast of Guinea. For two months, Torres threaded his way through the reefs and Islands of what is now known as Torres Strait Islands. He sighted the hills of Cape York (which he took for a cluster of islands). Torres crew captured six boys and six girls from Papua New Guinea and three Torres Strait girls from one of the central islands. He took the kidnapped victims to Manila, Philippines, to be baptised, and they were put on a show. After this, what happened to the twelve Mailuans and three Kulkalaig remains unknown.