The Story
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A rediscovery trek of Australia's greatest military disaster and the deep subterranean pressure that caused it.
A small team fights through the New Guinea jungle in search the lost site of a Pacific War tragedy. Before the break of dawn on January 23, 1942, just six and a half weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 32 ships and 20,000 soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the small South Pacific Island of New Britain in search of the natural resources offered by the island's deep tectonic activity. Tipped to stop them was a mere 1400 Australian men. |
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The horrific events that proceeded to unfold led to what would become Australia's worst military disaster of the Second World War. An 11-year-old boy killed by firing squad and Australia's worst maritime disaster to date are two of the lost stories that have emerged out of the conflict.
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Despite its gravity the conflict has barely ever surfaced to public knowledge and remains unknown the vast majority of Australian and international communities. Hostages To Fortune will follow the rediscovery of the story and the search for a lost site deep in the New Guinea jungle, all in a bid to deliver a greater acknowledgement of those who in the midst of war were forced into the ultimate fight or flight scenario.
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From The Director
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I first learned of this story as a young boy, listening to my grandmother replaying her own memories out loud. Her family being forced from their home and witnessing the death of her father. But I never knew the full extent of why.
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Time changes many things.
But one thing changes never. The memories of those happy days, when we were once together. The midnight stars are shining on a grave not far away where they laid my darling Daddy. Irene Shiels nee Lewerissa wrote this for her father Peter after he was killed during the Japanese invasion. Word source: Unknown |
Hostages To Fortune aims to shed a brighter light on the events surrounding the 1942 Japanese invasion of Rabaul and the largely unknown opening exchanges of Australia's involvement in the Pacific War.
This film is not merely a story of good vs evil.
It is a direct look into the overflow of consequence of geopolitical warfare as well as a pertinent historical event that has been all but lost. We now have in grasp a great opportunity, which I firmly believe has transpired into an obligation to tell it and in doing so, preserve the lessons in younger generations of the price of war.
It is with great courtesy I invite you to be a part of that process and in doing so help create an enduring access into the heart of a struggle that we have almost forgotten.
James.
This film is not merely a story of good vs evil.
It is a direct look into the overflow of consequence of geopolitical warfare as well as a pertinent historical event that has been all but lost. We now have in grasp a great opportunity, which I firmly believe has transpired into an obligation to tell it and in doing so, preserve the lessons in younger generations of the price of war.
It is with great courtesy I invite you to be a part of that process and in doing so help create an enduring access into the heart of a struggle that we have almost forgotten.
James.
