1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:08,300 [narrator] In Ireland, a place of refuge turns into a house of horrors. 2 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:09,667 [Terri Kearney] All hell broke loose. 3 00:00:09,667 --> 00:00:11,467 There was bodies everywhere. 4 00:00:11,467 --> 00:00:14,400 It was appalling and it was totally unnecessary. 5 00:00:16,266 --> 00:00:20,867 [narrator] A weird and wonderful fantasy land in the heart of Alabama. 6 00:00:20,867 --> 00:00:22,867 [Hadley Meares] Everybody loves it so much. 7 00:00:22,867 --> 00:00:24,200 They don't even wear shoes, 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,133 as a symbol that they never want to leave. 9 00:00:28,567 --> 00:00:30,300 [narrator] And in South Korea, 10 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:35,467 the fate of a nation is determined behind these walls. 11 00:00:35,467 --> 00:00:36,700 [Rob Bell] They were trapped, 12 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:38,867 cut off from the outside world, 13 00:00:38,867 --> 00:00:41,800 but would fight to the death for democracy. 14 00:00:45,767 --> 00:00:47,900 [narrator] Decaying relics, 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,433 ruins of lost worlds, 16 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,900 sites haunted by the past, 17 00:00:56,900 --> 00:01:01,333 their secrets waiting to be revealed. 18 00:01:11,867 --> 00:01:15,667 [narrator] In County Cork, on Ireland's southern coast, 19 00:01:15,667 --> 00:01:18,500 are haunting remnants of a tragic era. 20 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,700 [Luke Pepera] The area's covered in lush, green hills and pristine beaches. 21 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:33,166 There's a reason this country is called the Emerald Isle. 22 00:01:33,166 --> 00:01:39,166 [narrator] Yet the land's natural beauty hides a painful history. 23 00:01:39,166 --> 00:01:46,600 On the skirts of a small town are the sprawling remains of a stone complex. 24 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,166 [Bell] You can still see these imposing walls, 25 00:01:50,166 --> 00:01:54,000 but the overgrowth has almost entirely reclaimed these buildings. 26 00:01:54,867 --> 00:01:57,867 [narrator] The crumbling relic reveals little 27 00:01:57,867 --> 00:01:59,767 about its original purpose. 28 00:01:59,767 --> 00:02:01,967 [Sascha Auerbach] When this was built, the country was 29 00:02:01,967 --> 00:02:04,867 in the grips of a horrible catastrophe. 30 00:02:04,867 --> 00:02:08,400 Partly natural, partly man-made. 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,500 [Kearney] I still imagine those poor people coming up, 32 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:13,467 knowing what their fate was going to be behind these walls. 33 00:02:13,467 --> 00:02:15,166 That they'd never come out again. 34 00:02:15,166 --> 00:02:20,000 [narrator] Additional ruins expose a different chapter of this heartbreaking story. 35 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:21,900 The structure of a wall 36 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:25,867 and a tall, dark building, and the windows boarded up. 37 00:02:25,867 --> 00:02:28,000 [Bell] How are all these structures connected? 38 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,767 And what happened here? 39 00:02:29,767 --> 00:02:34,700 This became the epicenter of one of the worst crises in Ireland's history. 40 00:02:40,867 --> 00:02:45,166 [Kearney] The first time I came here, I wasn't ready for it. 41 00:02:45,166 --> 00:02:47,066 I could actually feel the sorrow 42 00:02:47,066 --> 00:02:48,400 seeping out through the walls, 43 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,667 and it really did have a profound impact on me. 44 00:02:51,667 --> 00:02:55,767 [narrator] Terri Kearney grew up in the nearby town of Skibbereen. 45 00:02:55,767 --> 00:02:59,367 She has dedicated her life to preserving the memory of a tragedy 46 00:02:59,367 --> 00:03:02,133 many in Ireland wanted to forget. 47 00:03:03,367 --> 00:03:06,667 For 150 years, Ireland really did forget, you know? 48 00:03:06,667 --> 00:03:10,000 It wasn't spoken about. It's called "the great silence." 49 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,400 So these places are really, really important 50 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,367 as a physical manifestation of over a million dead. 51 00:03:16,367 --> 00:03:19,200 I always describe it as a prison environment. 52 00:03:20,166 --> 00:03:22,467 [narrator] But this was no prison. 53 00:03:22,467 --> 00:03:27,367 During the 19th century, thousands of desperate people came here by choice 54 00:03:27,367 --> 00:03:31,767 because their only other option was an agonizing death. 55 00:03:31,767 --> 00:03:34,400 [Kearney] They were surrounded by high stone walls. 56 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,867 When you went it, you had to go in as a family. You were segregated. 57 00:03:37,867 --> 00:03:40,166 Men, women, boys, girls. 58 00:03:40,166 --> 00:03:42,934 You weren't allowed to see the other members of your family. 59 00:03:45,767 --> 00:03:48,567 [narrator] This is the Schull Workhouse, 60 00:03:48,567 --> 00:03:52,700 the government's answer for a population in dire straits. 61 00:03:53,967 --> 00:03:57,467 [Pepera] The workhouse was an institution in Ireland. 62 00:03:57,467 --> 00:04:01,100 At their peak, there were over 160 of them. 63 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:04,367 [Bell] It was really a last resort for the poorest families. 64 00:04:04,367 --> 00:04:06,100 If you couldn't support yourself, 65 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:10,700 you could come to a workhouse and receive food and shelter for your labor. 66 00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:14,200 [narrator] The workhouse system, funded by local taxes, 67 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,533 was first put in place by the British government in the late 1830s. 68 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:22,867 When they opened, the conditions were so bad, 69 00:04:22,867 --> 00:04:24,900 the workhouses were rarely full. 70 00:04:25,667 --> 00:04:27,567 But by the 1840s, 71 00:04:27,567 --> 00:04:33,266 buildings like this all across Ireland were filled to capacity. 72 00:04:33,266 --> 00:04:35,600 The reason for the increased demand 73 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,100 dates back to when the English invaded these shores. 74 00:04:40,100 --> 00:04:43,367 [Bell] The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the 17th century 75 00:04:43,367 --> 00:04:47,867 created a precarious situation amongst Irish farmers. 76 00:04:47,867 --> 00:04:51,166 [Pepera] The penal law of 1704 dictated 77 00:04:51,166 --> 00:04:53,400 that when an Irish tenant farmer died, 78 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,600 his land should be equally divided among his sons. 79 00:04:57,567 --> 00:05:00,867 [Auerbach] As the population continued to grow, 80 00:05:00,867 --> 00:05:03,266 this farmland got subdivided 81 00:05:03,266 --> 00:05:06,467 into smaller and smaller plots. 82 00:05:06,467 --> 00:05:11,166 As a consequence, these farmers turned to the one crop 83 00:05:11,166 --> 00:05:15,266 that even in that limited space could feed a whole family. 84 00:05:15,266 --> 00:05:17,100 The potato. 85 00:05:18,266 --> 00:05:23,500 [narrator] Ireland's reliance on a single food source would prove to be fatal. 86 00:05:24,467 --> 00:05:27,467 [Bell] In 1845, a blight that had been traveling 87 00:05:27,467 --> 00:05:29,200 around North America and Europe 88 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,066 landed on Irish shores, 89 00:05:31,066 --> 00:05:34,166 and the potato crop was decimated. 90 00:05:34,166 --> 00:05:36,767 People around here were well used to failures, and they thought, 91 00:05:36,767 --> 00:05:38,934 "One year, we just need to get over one year." 92 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,467 [narrator] But the next year, the situation only got worse. 93 00:05:44,467 --> 00:05:49,233 In 1846, there was a 90% failure of the crop. 94 00:05:50,767 --> 00:05:54,000 [Auerbach] The poor farming region of West Cork 95 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,100 was one of the hardest-hit areas, 96 00:05:56,100 --> 00:06:02,100 and the town of Skibbereen became ground zero in the Great Potato Famine. 97 00:06:02,100 --> 00:06:07,100 [Kearney] By 1846, people were dying in this town and society was breaking down. 98 00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:11,200 Death by starvation is a long, slow, painful disease. 99 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,166 And it robbed their humanity. 100 00:06:14,166 --> 00:06:16,900 [narrator] A local doctor named Daniel Donovan 101 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:19,700 witnessed the tragedy that was unfolding 102 00:06:19,700 --> 00:06:23,667 and he stepped in to be a champion for the people. 103 00:06:23,667 --> 00:06:27,100 Oh, Dr. Dan was an extraordinary man. 104 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:28,867 He was qualified as a surgeon. 105 00:06:28,867 --> 00:06:30,266 He could have gone off to Dublin 106 00:06:30,266 --> 00:06:32,100 and had a very illustrious career. 107 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:36,667 Instead, he stayed here in Skibbereen during this worst catastrophe. 108 00:06:36,667 --> 00:06:40,667 He did so much to help people. 109 00:06:40,667 --> 00:06:44,667 He wrote and looked for help and screamed for help. 110 00:06:44,667 --> 00:06:46,500 [Pepera] His advocacy was successful, 111 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:52,367 and £400,000 flowed in from the UK from donation drives. 112 00:06:52,367 --> 00:06:54,467 [narrator] An old mill building in town 113 00:06:54,467 --> 00:06:59,700 was hastily converted into a makeshift soup kitchen to feed the hungry. 114 00:06:59,700 --> 00:07:03,166 [Bell] The relief effort embarrassed British politicians. 115 00:07:03,166 --> 00:07:05,500 Here was the world's greatest empire 116 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:09,233 becoming reliant on external aid to help its people. 117 00:07:10,166 --> 00:07:11,800 [narrator] Now in the spotlight, 118 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,066 the government was forced to offer support. 119 00:07:15,066 --> 00:07:19,266 [Auerbach] In 1847, the Soup Kitchen Act was passed. 120 00:07:19,266 --> 00:07:23,800 And within months, three million Irish people were being fed. 121 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,100 [Pepera] They served a concoction 122 00:07:25,100 --> 00:07:29,800 of barley, water, beef, and onions, known as Soyer's Soup. 123 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:30,900 It was nothing fancy, 124 00:07:30,900 --> 00:07:34,300 but it gave people just enough calories to survive. 125 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:36,767 [narrator] Charles Trevelyan, 126 00:07:36,767 --> 00:07:38,967 assistant secretary to the treasury, 127 00:07:38,967 --> 00:07:42,367 was the man in charge of Britain's relief efforts. 128 00:07:42,367 --> 00:07:44,667 His political and personal views 129 00:07:44,667 --> 00:07:49,200 dictated the government's initial reluctance to help. 130 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,700 [Auerbach] Charles Trevelyan was a subscriber of the laissez-faire policy, 131 00:07:53,700 --> 00:07:58,166 which is government non-interference in economic matters. 132 00:07:58,166 --> 00:08:01,600 That meant that in the middle of the famine, 133 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,367 food was being exported out of Ireland 134 00:08:04,367 --> 00:08:08,266 even as millions continued to starve. 135 00:08:08,266 --> 00:08:10,867 [Bell] Trevelyan infamously wrote that the famine 136 00:08:10,867 --> 00:08:13,166 had been brought about by God 137 00:08:13,166 --> 00:08:16,467 as a judgement on Ireland's excessive population growth 138 00:08:16,467 --> 00:08:20,066 and dependency on the potato for food. 139 00:08:20,066 --> 00:08:22,900 Even today, he's a hated figure across Ireland. 140 00:08:24,100 --> 00:08:26,767 [narrator] It's not hard to see why. 141 00:08:26,767 --> 00:08:29,266 Three months after aid was given, 142 00:08:29,266 --> 00:08:32,100 Britain was hit by a financial crisis. 143 00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:37,400 Trevelyan's response was to immediately shut down the soup kitchens. 144 00:08:39,467 --> 00:08:42,600 From the autumn of 1847 on, 145 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,233 the only relief there on was through the workhouse system. 146 00:08:46,900 --> 00:08:48,200 All hell broke loose. 147 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,367 It really did. It was the worst year of the Great Famine. 148 00:08:51,367 --> 00:08:53,600 And it was totally unnecessary. 149 00:08:58,567 --> 00:09:00,400 [narrator] In the 1840s, 150 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:07,000 Ireland was in crisis as the deadly potato famine ravaged the country. 151 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,567 After the British government ended its support for soup kitchens, 152 00:09:10,567 --> 00:09:13,867 the workhouse was the only option left. 153 00:09:13,867 --> 00:09:16,600 So this Schull Workhouse was one of the later workhouses 154 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,400 built in the late 1840s, early 1850s. 155 00:09:20,300 --> 00:09:22,266 Horrible, horrible places. 156 00:09:22,266 --> 00:09:25,767 During the Great Famine, they were so overcrowded and underfunded. 157 00:09:25,767 --> 00:09:30,600 They kept running out of food. They were breeding grounds for disease. 158 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,734 [narrator] The awful truth was that families often didn't come here to live. 159 00:09:35,166 --> 00:09:37,000 They came to die. 160 00:09:37,867 --> 00:09:40,500 [Auerbach] Catholic families came to workhouses 161 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:44,567 because they knew they would get a properly consecrated burial. 162 00:09:44,567 --> 00:09:46,266 [Kearney] And so many accounts of that. 163 00:09:46,266 --> 00:09:49,767 People clambering at the workhouse walls, just wanting to get in 164 00:09:49,767 --> 00:09:52,333 so they knew they wouldn't be left to rot at the side of the road. 165 00:09:53,767 --> 00:09:57,000 [narrator] At Skibbereen's Abbeystrowry Cemetery 166 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,400 are the unmarked graves of over 10,000 people, 167 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,467 a small fraction of the total death toll. 168 00:10:05,467 --> 00:10:08,166 [Kearney] These mass graves are all over Ireland. 169 00:10:08,166 --> 00:10:12,266 Overall, it's estimated we lost about a million people, 170 00:10:12,266 --> 00:10:15,900 and about another million-and-a-quarter emigrated. 171 00:10:15,900 --> 00:10:18,500 It was the biggest mass migration in world history. 172 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,767 [narrator] By the mid-1850s, 173 00:10:22,767 --> 00:10:25,567 the potato crop had almost fully recovered, 174 00:10:25,567 --> 00:10:29,700 and the dependence on workhouses steadily declined. 175 00:10:29,700 --> 00:10:31,600 The famine may have ended, 176 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,734 but its legacy had only just begun. 177 00:10:40,166 --> 00:10:41,734 [Kearney] I suppose you could say 178 00:10:41,734 --> 00:10:46,967 the events of this era would eventually lead to Irish independence, too, 179 00:10:46,967 --> 00:10:50,867 because some of those who survived 180 00:10:50,867 --> 00:10:56,000 were violently changed by it and became revolutionaries with arms. 181 00:10:56,967 --> 00:10:58,367 [narrator] Their fight for freedom 182 00:10:58,367 --> 00:11:02,000 would eventually bring about this building's demise. 183 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,333 [Bell] During the War of Independence, 184 00:11:03,333 --> 00:11:06,867 the Irish Republican Army burned the workhouse to the ground 185 00:11:06,867 --> 00:11:10,166 to prevent it being used as barracks by the British forces. 186 00:11:10,166 --> 00:11:15,000 [Auerbach] Since then, it's become dilapidated and overgrown. 187 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,133 A ghostly reminder of the country's most dire period. 188 00:11:24,567 --> 00:11:26,567 [narrator] In Central Alabama 189 00:11:26,567 --> 00:11:28,967 is a curious collection of buildings 190 00:11:28,967 --> 00:11:32,033 where reality collides with fantasy. 191 00:11:37,767 --> 00:11:41,000 [Alexis Pedrick] A short distance north of the capital, Montgomery, 192 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,700 is a place called Jackson Lake Island. 193 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:47,867 And it's small. I mean, less than a half-a-mile across. 194 00:11:47,867 --> 00:11:53,000 It's really beautiful, but also kind of spooky. 195 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,700 At the end of the island is what looks like this abandoned, desolate town. 196 00:11:58,667 --> 00:12:01,367 [Jim Meigs] There's something old about it, 197 00:12:01,367 --> 00:12:03,734 but something kind of otherworldly too. 198 00:12:04,967 --> 00:12:06,066 As you get closer to these buildings, 199 00:12:06,066 --> 00:12:08,767 you realize there's something really odd about them. 200 00:12:08,767 --> 00:12:12,400 There's nothing inside. In fact, some of them aren't even finished. 201 00:12:13,767 --> 00:12:17,233 [narrator] At the town's entrance, the plot thickens. 202 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,200 [Pedrick] There's these two trees that frame the street, 203 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,166 but if you look closer, you can actually tell that they're fake. 204 00:12:26,166 --> 00:12:29,567 Like where the bark is wearing away, there is Styrofoam. 205 00:12:29,567 --> 00:12:31,800 So this is not actually a real place, 206 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,133 it's a place of complete make-believe. 207 00:12:34,900 --> 00:12:36,667 [narrator] Everything seen here 208 00:12:36,667 --> 00:12:41,867 is the creation of a visionary with a wild imagination. 209 00:12:41,867 --> 00:12:44,567 [Pedrick] For the man behind it, it was a big gamble. 210 00:12:44,567 --> 00:12:49,233 I mean, he needed a win and there was no guarantee that this was gonna be it. 211 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:51,867 [Meares] It's a magical story. 212 00:12:51,867 --> 00:12:54,200 Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad, 213 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,967 and sometimes it is just downright weird. 214 00:12:57,967 --> 00:13:01,400 And there are goats. Lots and lots of goats. 215 00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:11,100 [Lynn Bright] For many years, 216 00:13:11,100 --> 00:13:13,367 this was just a place where people loved to come and fish 217 00:13:13,367 --> 00:13:15,233 and maybe picnic or camp. 218 00:13:16,767 --> 00:13:18,000 [narrator] Bobby and Lynn Bright 219 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,200 are the owners of Jackson Lake Island. 220 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:27,266 In 2003, an out-of-the-blue phone call changed their world forever. 221 00:13:27,266 --> 00:13:30,767 We were contacted by the Alabama Film Commission, 222 00:13:30,767 --> 00:13:34,000 and they said that they had a production company 223 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,100 that was interested in maybe doing a movie on our island. 224 00:13:38,100 --> 00:13:40,767 It was exciting, because once we learned it was Tim Burton, 225 00:13:40,767 --> 00:13:43,367 we knew that it wasn't gonna be a small-time deal, 226 00:13:43,367 --> 00:13:45,600 it was gonna be a major production. 227 00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:49,400 [Meigs] When a big Hollywood picture comes to town, 228 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:50,767 it's like an occupying army. 229 00:13:50,767 --> 00:13:56,600 They bring almost everything they need. Trailers, trucks, catering. 230 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,767 Well, at the beginning, there was nothing here. 231 00:13:58,767 --> 00:14:00,767 It was just grass and trees. 232 00:14:00,767 --> 00:14:03,500 And they came in and just kind of cleared the site, 233 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:05,900 and then started the construction. 234 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:07,900 It was a big operation. 235 00:14:09,567 --> 00:14:13,100 [narrator] This is the fictional town of Spectre, 236 00:14:13,100 --> 00:14:15,266 one of the many whimsical locations 237 00:14:15,266 --> 00:14:18,400 in the 2003 cult film Big Fish. 238 00:14:19,867 --> 00:14:21,500 [Meares] If you haven't seen the movie Big Fish, 239 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:24,567 it's this really lovely magical realism film. 240 00:14:24,567 --> 00:14:25,800 At its core, 241 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,000 it's a story of a father and a son's troubled relationship. 242 00:14:30,500 --> 00:14:34,200 [Pedrick] So Ewan McGregor stars as the dad when he's younger, 243 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,100 and Albert Finney plays the older version of him. 244 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:40,300 And he loves to tell tall tales about his life. 245 00:14:40,967 --> 00:14:43,734 I mean, tall tales, like, really. 246 00:14:44,567 --> 00:14:46,800 [Meares] The son is played by Billy Crudup, 247 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,066 and he plays a character named Will Bloom. 248 00:14:49,066 --> 00:14:51,166 And Will is absolutely fed up 249 00:14:51,166 --> 00:14:55,367 with what he sees as his father's lifetime of lies. 250 00:14:55,367 --> 00:14:58,200 [narrator] But when Will discovers his father is dying, 251 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,767 he decides to find out the truth about his life. 252 00:15:01,767 --> 00:15:05,467 That's where the town of Spectre comes in. 253 00:15:05,467 --> 00:15:09,567 [Pedrick] In the film, a young Edward Bloom wants to leave home. 254 00:15:09,567 --> 00:15:10,867 It's too small for him. 255 00:15:10,867 --> 00:15:13,567 He's a big fish in a small pond. 256 00:15:13,567 --> 00:15:15,800 [Meigs] So he goes on kind of a journey, 257 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,467 and that journey brings him here. 258 00:15:18,467 --> 00:15:22,367 The town of Spectre is kind of like a Brigadoon place 259 00:15:22,367 --> 00:15:27,467 where you feel like you've stepped out of time into a different world 260 00:15:27,467 --> 00:15:31,233 where things just work differently, like nobody wears any shoes. 261 00:15:33,266 --> 00:15:35,600 [narrator] Shortly after Edward arrived, 262 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,767 he is invited to the mayor's house for apple pie, 263 00:15:38,767 --> 00:15:41,900 and the townspeople try to convince him to stay. 264 00:15:42,767 --> 00:15:44,467 [Lynn] Under the table comes little Jenny, 265 00:15:44,467 --> 00:15:47,867 unties his boots, runs out the front door with them. 266 00:15:47,867 --> 00:15:49,467 She runs down the street, 267 00:15:49,467 --> 00:15:53,100 throws 'em over the line where all the residents' shoes are, 268 00:15:53,100 --> 00:15:56,934 and he quickly learned why she took his boots. 269 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,166 [Meares] And the reason for that 270 00:15:59,166 --> 00:16:01,166 is they love the town so much, 271 00:16:01,166 --> 00:16:02,700 they don't ever want to leave. 272 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,667 The movie is full of all these weird and wonderful scenes, 273 00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:09,066 in a way that makes you think 274 00:16:09,066 --> 00:16:11,567 it could only be a Tim Burton film. 275 00:16:11,567 --> 00:16:13,734 But it almost didn't turn out that way. 276 00:16:18,467 --> 00:16:21,667 [narrator] In Alabama is a ramshackle movie set 277 00:16:21,667 --> 00:16:24,767 created by director Tim Burton. 278 00:16:24,767 --> 00:16:28,500 But it was a film he was never meant to be a part of. 279 00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:33,266 That's because Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg 280 00:16:33,266 --> 00:16:35,500 was originally lined up to direct. 281 00:16:36,667 --> 00:16:38,567 [Meigs] But then mid-project, 282 00:16:38,567 --> 00:16:41,767 he got called off on a different film 283 00:16:41,767 --> 00:16:44,900 and director Tim Burton got involved. 284 00:16:46,066 --> 00:16:48,567 [Pedrick] Some say it was because he needed a win. 285 00:16:48,567 --> 00:16:51,700 If you remember, he'd just put out that movie Planet of the Apes, 286 00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:56,300 and it was nowhere near the hit that he really needed it to be. 287 00:16:56,300 --> 00:17:00,567 [narrator] The pressure was on to make this film a success. 288 00:17:00,567 --> 00:17:02,867 Landowner Bobby Bright's first encounter 289 00:17:02,867 --> 00:17:06,233 with the future Oscar-winner didn't help matters. 290 00:17:07,700 --> 00:17:11,266 I would always come over after work and ride through the set 291 00:17:11,266 --> 00:17:13,567 to see what progress they'd made. 292 00:17:13,567 --> 00:17:15,667 And as I got behind the mayor's house, 293 00:17:15,667 --> 00:17:21,200 this stranger came walking out and I thought maybe he was up to no good. 294 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,767 But I had no idea who Tim Burton was before the movie came here. 295 00:17:24,767 --> 00:17:27,033 I almost started to do a citizen's arrest on him. 296 00:17:30,467 --> 00:17:35,467 [narrator] Despite Bobby's best efforts, Burton did continue filming, 297 00:17:35,467 --> 00:17:40,166 but Spectre was about to hit hard times, Hollywood-style. 298 00:17:40,166 --> 00:17:42,900 [Pedrick] Spectre wasn't big enough for Edward Bloom. 299 00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:46,800 I mean, he's a big fish and so he leaves. 300 00:17:48,166 --> 00:17:51,867 [Meigs] Later in the movie, Edward comes back to the town of Spectre, 301 00:17:51,867 --> 00:17:54,166 and something has happened. 302 00:17:54,166 --> 00:17:56,100 The town is now in ruins. 303 00:17:56,100 --> 00:17:57,400 So in order to shoot that, 304 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,567 the filmmakers first had to build these nice, new buildings 305 00:18:01,567 --> 00:18:05,700 and then make everything look like it had aged 50 years. 306 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,467 [Bobby] They tore up the fences, the picket fences. 307 00:18:11,467 --> 00:18:15,300 They used sandblasters, they used heating torches to burn the paint off, 308 00:18:15,300 --> 00:18:17,500 to make the paint peel like that right there. 309 00:18:17,500 --> 00:18:21,767 They took up the sod and they did everything they possibly could 310 00:18:21,767 --> 00:18:24,834 to make it look like it was in really, really bad shape. 311 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,767 So, really what you're seeing here is not actual decay, 312 00:18:29,767 --> 00:18:31,233 it's Hollywood magic. 313 00:18:32,066 --> 00:18:34,166 [narrator] Yet that Hollywood magic 314 00:18:34,166 --> 00:18:39,133 didn't translate into the runaway box-office hit Burton had hoped for. 315 00:18:41,166 --> 00:18:46,166 [Meares] It did about $60 million domestically and $120 million worldwide 316 00:18:46,166 --> 00:18:48,266 with a $70 million budget. 317 00:18:48,266 --> 00:18:52,000 So a solid success, but not a great blockbuster. 318 00:18:55,266 --> 00:18:57,100 [narrator] For the Bright family though, 319 00:18:57,100 --> 00:19:01,300 the old movie set seemed like an opportunity too good to miss. 320 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,200 [Lynn] So towards the end of the filming, 321 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,700 we as a family decided to, you know... 322 00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:08,266 "What if we let it stay?" 323 00:19:08,266 --> 00:19:10,166 We had an expectation that people would be 324 00:19:10,166 --> 00:19:12,000 really interested in seeing it. 325 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,700 But nobody wanted to come see it. 326 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:15,533 People just didn't realize it was here. 327 00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:19,500 [Meares] In the years after the film, 328 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:22,867 the elements slowly took over the set. 329 00:19:22,867 --> 00:19:27,200 Floods came in and destroyed one of the main character's homes, 330 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,333 things really went to rot and ruin. 331 00:19:30,467 --> 00:19:34,066 [narrator] Spectre was in danger of complete destruction. 332 00:19:34,066 --> 00:19:36,066 This time, for real. 333 00:19:36,066 --> 00:19:40,300 If it was going to survive, it needed a lifeline fast. 334 00:19:41,467 --> 00:19:45,166 [Lynn] It was not until around 2011 or so, 335 00:19:45,166 --> 00:19:50,100 when social media picked it up and the next thing we knew, people knew we were here. 336 00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:52,200 And once people started to come visit, 337 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,700 then we really realized that we needed to do whatever we could 338 00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:57,600 to keep the structure standing. 339 00:19:59,100 --> 00:20:01,100 They also come to see the goats. 340 00:20:01,100 --> 00:20:04,166 And the goats take a toll not only on the island, 341 00:20:04,166 --> 00:20:06,600 but they take a toll on the town of Spectre. 342 00:20:07,867 --> 00:20:10,400 [narrator] Today, there's not as much of the town left 343 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,200 as there once was. 344 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:13,533 But thousands of fans 345 00:20:13,533 --> 00:20:18,000 still come to walk the fictional street of a film they adore. 346 00:20:18,667 --> 00:20:20,066 [Meares] It's really the message 347 00:20:20,066 --> 00:20:22,800 and the heartwarming nature of the movie 348 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,667 that people really love because in the end, 349 00:20:25,667 --> 00:20:28,967 Edward and Will do get their relationship back on track, 350 00:20:28,967 --> 00:20:30,834 and it's really beautiful. 351 00:20:31,767 --> 00:20:34,066 [Lynn] We had a man that came from South Florida, 352 00:20:34,066 --> 00:20:38,767 and he told us the story of how he had watched the movie with his son 353 00:20:38,767 --> 00:20:40,767 while his son was on his deathbed 354 00:20:40,767 --> 00:20:43,767 and they healed their relationship. 355 00:20:43,767 --> 00:20:47,500 He was so emotional about it, I was crying listening to him 356 00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:50,266 because I could tell that it really mattered 357 00:20:50,266 --> 00:20:54,233 that he get here for the memory of his son. 358 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,567 [Pedrick] Although the movie will live on 359 00:21:00,567 --> 00:21:02,967 and likely get new fans over the years, 360 00:21:02,967 --> 00:21:06,200 the future for the town of Spectre is not so certain. 361 00:21:08,166 --> 00:21:10,000 [Lynn] I'm not sure how much longer it'll last. 362 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,767 At some point, it's just gonna all give. 363 00:21:11,767 --> 00:21:14,367 They're not built on real foundations, 364 00:21:14,367 --> 00:21:16,900 so we can't expect it to last forever. 365 00:21:23,767 --> 00:21:26,767 [narrator] In the city of Gwangju, South Korea 366 00:21:26,767 --> 00:21:31,300 are the forsaken reminders of a sacrifice that forged a nation. 367 00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:41,100 From the outside, it could be a rundown apartment block or an office. 368 00:21:42,667 --> 00:21:43,800 [Auerbach] Peering through the dirty windows, 369 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,367 it's really hard to get a sense of what's inside. 370 00:21:47,367 --> 00:21:51,400 As soon as you walk in, you can really feel the decay. 371 00:21:53,667 --> 00:21:56,767 [Bell] There are CT scanners, X-ray machines, 372 00:21:56,767 --> 00:22:02,300 and cabinets still filled with vials of medicine and syringes. 373 00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:05,166 [Auerbach] So, clearly, this was some kind of medical facility. 374 00:22:05,166 --> 00:22:11,000 It's kind of post-apocalyptic, like everyone just vanished. 375 00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:16,567 [narrator] Nearby are the remains of another facility 376 00:22:16,567 --> 00:22:20,867 that at first appears to have no obvious connection. 377 00:22:20,867 --> 00:22:24,867 [Bell] Set back from the square behind heavy metal gates 378 00:22:24,867 --> 00:22:28,367 lies this imposing white building. 379 00:22:28,367 --> 00:22:31,567 [Michele Mitchell] A grand staircase greets you as you first walk in. 380 00:22:31,567 --> 00:22:34,100 Inside, it has clearly been gutted. 381 00:22:34,100 --> 00:22:38,000 [Auerbach] These holes surrounded by yellow tape suggests 382 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,734 that something has been dug out of the walls for evidence. 383 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,700 [narrator] Together, these structures 384 00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:48,600 tell a story of heroism in the face of mortal danger. 385 00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:51,867 [Mitchell] When the government goes rogue, 386 00:22:51,867 --> 00:22:54,000 it's up to the citizens to rebel. 387 00:22:58,967 --> 00:23:02,266 [narrator] In the South Korean city of Gwangju are two buildings 388 00:23:02,266 --> 00:23:06,300 involved in a brutal episode that defined a nation. 389 00:23:07,567 --> 00:23:11,800 I was just an ordinary citizen, an office worker. 390 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,467 [narrator] Jun-Bong Kim was an employee 391 00:23:15,467 --> 00:23:18,567 of a local cement company in 1980. 392 00:23:18,567 --> 00:23:21,266 Events that played out in that year 393 00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:24,400 had a lasting impact on his life. 394 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,066 [Kim] I have experienced torture. 395 00:23:27,066 --> 00:23:30,700 As a result, my body was completely ruined. 396 00:23:31,867 --> 00:23:36,266 Nevertheless, May 18th thought me what justice is. 397 00:23:36,266 --> 00:23:39,500 I don't regret or doubt anything that I've done. 398 00:23:41,066 --> 00:23:44,100 [narrator] The catalyst for the cruelty Jun-Bong endured, 399 00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:50,300 and which connected him to these buildings forever, began in 1979. 400 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,266 [Auerbach] Park Chung Hee had ruled South Korea 401 00:23:55,266 --> 00:23:58,200 as an authoritarian dictator since the 1960s. 402 00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:02,400 At a dinner party in the presidential complex, 403 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:03,900 the head of intelligence 404 00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:07,867 pulled out a gun and shot him in the head and in the chest. 405 00:24:07,867 --> 00:24:09,367 [siren wailing] 406 00:24:09,367 --> 00:24:13,867 [narrator] The assassination was just the first act of a military coup 407 00:24:13,867 --> 00:24:16,000 to take over the country. 408 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,634 In South Korea's major cities, like here, in Gwangju, student protests erupted. 409 00:24:23,367 --> 00:24:25,500 [Bell] Seven thousand protestors 410 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,467 broke through the police barrier 411 00:24:27,467 --> 00:24:28,934 surrounding their school 412 00:24:28,934 --> 00:24:33,066 and went to the square in front of the provincial government building. 413 00:24:33,066 --> 00:24:37,400 They demanded an end to the martial law declared across the country. 414 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:39,867 At 1:00 a.m. on May 18th, 415 00:24:39,867 --> 00:24:43,000 the government announced a stoppage to all such activity. 416 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,767 They closed universities, they banned protests and demonstrations, 417 00:24:47,767 --> 00:24:50,900 and they announced new restrictions on the press. 418 00:24:50,900 --> 00:24:52,233 [narrator] The military government 419 00:24:52,233 --> 00:24:56,467 deployed troops all over the city to enforce the new laws... 420 00:24:56,467 --> 00:24:59,467 by whatever means necessary. 421 00:24:59,467 --> 00:25:03,500 These were soldiers trained against the looming threat of invasion from North Korea, 422 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:06,800 not the policing of peaceful protests. 423 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:11,700 A 24-year-old deaf man was beaten so badly by soldiers 424 00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:13,634 that he died of his wounds the following day. 425 00:25:15,567 --> 00:25:18,266 [narrator] But the people refused to be silenced 426 00:25:18,266 --> 00:25:22,000 and the protests continued for the next three days. 427 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,233 On May 21st, an alarming decision was made. 428 00:25:27,867 --> 00:25:33,900 The stage was set for a clash that would reverberate through South Korea's history. 429 00:25:34,867 --> 00:25:36,133 [Auerbach] At 1:00 p.m., 430 00:25:36,133 --> 00:25:38,967 the national anthem was played out over the PA system. 431 00:25:38,967 --> 00:25:42,266 As soon as the last note of the anthem played, 432 00:25:42,266 --> 00:25:47,266 the soldiers, armed with American-provided M16 assault rifles, 433 00:25:47,266 --> 00:25:48,867 opened fire on the crowd. 434 00:25:48,867 --> 00:25:50,266 [guns firing] 435 00:25:50,266 --> 00:25:53,767 [Bell] Tens of thousands of people were running for their lives, 436 00:25:53,767 --> 00:25:56,867 diving for cover in nearby alleyways. 437 00:25:56,867 --> 00:25:59,000 [narrator] Jun-Bong was working in an office 438 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,467 across from the provincial government building 439 00:26:01,467 --> 00:26:05,033 when he was unexpectedly drawn into the turmoil. 440 00:26:07,667 --> 00:26:11,400 [Kim] Someone knocked on the office door 441 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,400 and I heard three people crying out. 442 00:26:15,467 --> 00:26:18,000 "Help us, help us." 443 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:22,000 They were young students. 444 00:26:24,266 --> 00:26:26,233 I was shocked when I saw the blood. 445 00:26:28,767 --> 00:26:33,400 Everyone in front of me was covered in blood. 446 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:34,667 [narrator] He rushed the wounded 447 00:26:34,667 --> 00:26:36,667 to the city's Red Cross hospital, 448 00:26:36,667 --> 00:26:39,033 located less than half-a-mile away. 449 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,467 When he arrived, the scene was one of utter chaos. 450 00:26:45,467 --> 00:26:48,867 [Kim] There were patients with gunshot wounds everywhere. 451 00:26:48,867 --> 00:26:51,400 It was absolute mayhem. 452 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,400 The building was overflowing with wounded people. 453 00:26:56,266 --> 00:26:59,767 [Auerbach] It soon became clear that the hospital was gonna run out 454 00:26:59,767 --> 00:27:01,266 of blood supply for transfusion. 455 00:27:01,266 --> 00:27:02,500 And when that happened, 456 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:04,200 people suffering from gunshot wounds 457 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,266 were gonna die very, very quickly. 458 00:27:06,266 --> 00:27:09,667 [narrator] Jun-Bong was desperate to help in any way he could, 459 00:27:09,667 --> 00:27:12,900 even if it meant risking his own life. 460 00:27:12,900 --> 00:27:16,800 [Kim] It was devastating seeing what was happening with my own eyes. 461 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,066 I was so mad, I couldn't stay still. 462 00:27:20,066 --> 00:27:25,266 The only thing in my mind was that I had to fight to protect Gwangju. 463 00:27:25,266 --> 00:27:28,600 [narrator] He and a team of doctors drove into the city 464 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,567 as the crackle of gunfire echoed all around. 465 00:27:32,567 --> 00:27:34,367 [Kim] I opened up the window and said, 466 00:27:34,367 --> 00:27:36,867 "Gwangju citizens, there is not enough blood 467 00:27:36,867 --> 00:27:38,767 to help save the gunshot patients. 468 00:27:38,767 --> 00:27:43,166 Please donate blood. People are dying. Please donate blood." 469 00:27:43,166 --> 00:27:45,467 The citizens lined up to donate. 470 00:27:45,467 --> 00:27:50,433 Eventually, the line was about 200 meters long. 471 00:27:52,467 --> 00:27:55,967 Those with serious gunshot wounds were stabilized, 472 00:27:55,967 --> 00:27:58,800 had the bullets and shrapnel removed from their bodies, 473 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,600 and then taken to larger hospitals for longer-term care. 474 00:28:03,967 --> 00:28:07,667 [narrator] But the real fight had only just begun. 475 00:28:07,667 --> 00:28:10,400 The citizens of Gwangju mobilized, 476 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,266 raiding police stations and military depots 477 00:28:13,266 --> 00:28:16,033 to take up arms against the aggressors. 478 00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:20,867 The military forces facing this mass armed resistance 479 00:28:20,867 --> 00:28:23,300 retreated to the outskirts of the city. 480 00:28:23,300 --> 00:28:27,400 They cut off all outside communications and closed the roads. 481 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,867 What had become a demonstration and a response, 482 00:28:30,867 --> 00:28:32,900 had now become a siege. 483 00:28:34,367 --> 00:28:37,166 [narrator] For a few days, there was peace. 484 00:28:37,166 --> 00:28:40,467 But this was just the calm before the storm. 485 00:28:40,467 --> 00:28:45,900 On May 26th, it became clear the military was moving to retake the city. 486 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,400 [Auerbach] As news of the imminent attack began to spread, 487 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,266 armed protestors took up station inside the provincial government building. 488 00:28:54,266 --> 00:28:58,100 They were determined to make a last, desperate stand. 489 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:02,800 [narrator] Jun-Bong was one of the city's defenders holed up inside. 490 00:29:06,266 --> 00:29:09,166 We were trembling with fear. 491 00:29:09,166 --> 00:29:12,266 We could hear the helicopters in the distance. 492 00:29:12,266 --> 00:29:14,634 We thought we were going to die here. 493 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,767 [narrator] May 27th, 1980. 494 00:29:22,767 --> 00:29:28,567 In Gwangju, South Korea, the defenders of democracy are making their last stand 495 00:29:28,567 --> 00:29:31,567 in the city's provincial government building. 496 00:29:31,567 --> 00:29:35,734 As church bells pealed at 4:00 a.m., the first shots were fired. 497 00:29:36,867 --> 00:29:40,066 Then, the chaos of war erupted. 498 00:29:40,066 --> 00:29:41,600 [guns firing] 499 00:29:44,467 --> 00:29:51,100 I went to the back door just as the soldiers came in. 500 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:52,834 I saw the soldiers shooting their guns. 501 00:29:54,467 --> 00:29:56,867 There were flames everywhere. 502 00:29:56,867 --> 00:30:04,100 They said that if we surrendered, they would spare our lives. 503 00:30:04,867 --> 00:30:06,700 So we surrendered. 504 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,500 I threw away my weapon and crawled out. 505 00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:17,133 The troops tied up people like fish. 506 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:20,100 [Auerbach] By 5:10 a.m., 507 00:30:20,100 --> 00:30:22,867 with the sun just beginning to rise over the city, 508 00:30:22,867 --> 00:30:23,700 it was all over. 509 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:27,467 [Bell] Seventeen people were killed 510 00:30:27,467 --> 00:30:29,767 inside the provincial government building, 511 00:30:29,767 --> 00:30:32,400 and over 200 were arrested. 512 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,166 [narrator] Yet the event was swept under the rug. 513 00:30:36,166 --> 00:30:40,900 In the years that followed, any mention of the uprising by the city's residents 514 00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:44,100 was met with severe punishment. 515 00:30:44,100 --> 00:30:46,667 [Bell] The provincial government building 516 00:30:46,667 --> 00:30:49,667 was once again used as an administrative headquarters. 517 00:30:49,667 --> 00:30:53,500 All traces of the brutal attack were covered over. 518 00:30:53,500 --> 00:30:55,266 [people chanting in Korean] 519 00:30:55,266 --> 00:30:57,700 [narrator] But the events of May 1980 520 00:30:57,700 --> 00:31:02,767 laid the foundations for democracy to eventually flourish. 521 00:31:02,767 --> 00:31:08,367 In 1987, the country held its first free elections. 522 00:31:08,367 --> 00:31:11,767 Under the new regime, the city's Red Cross hospital 523 00:31:11,767 --> 00:31:17,166 remained operational for another 27 years. 524 00:31:17,166 --> 00:31:22,100 [Auerbach] By 2014, however, its doors were locked with everything left inside. 525 00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:24,634 And the whole facility was just left to decay. 526 00:31:31,467 --> 00:31:36,000 [narrator] Today, Jun-Bong works with the May 18 Foundation, 527 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,300 founded to protect these structures 528 00:31:38,300 --> 00:31:41,300 and the memory of the Gwangju Uprising. 529 00:31:42,667 --> 00:31:45,367 [Kim] Democracy has a living history. 530 00:31:45,367 --> 00:31:51,300 It's necessary to preserve these locations to educate others. 531 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:00,767 [narrator] In Western Namibia, 532 00:32:00,767 --> 00:32:03,066 where the desert meets the ocean, 533 00:32:03,066 --> 00:32:06,900 traces of weather-beaten structures line the shore. 534 00:32:10,767 --> 00:32:14,000 [Meigs] We're on the South Atlantic coast of Africa. 535 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,166 This is a place where, to this day, almost no one lives. 536 00:32:18,166 --> 00:32:25,000 Then here and there, we see some signs of human activity. 537 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,867 [Pepera] There are these huge metal structures, almost like barrels, 538 00:32:28,867 --> 00:32:30,133 lined up in rows. 539 00:32:30,567 --> 00:32:32,100 And from above, 540 00:32:32,100 --> 00:32:37,000 you can see the outline of a large concrete slipway on the water's edge. 541 00:32:38,367 --> 00:32:40,700 [Dominic Selwood] Chains set into the ground 542 00:32:40,700 --> 00:32:46,000 suggest that something massive was either lashed down or dragged across the beach. 543 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,767 [Meigs] What would require such heavy-duty infrastructure 544 00:32:49,767 --> 00:32:52,233 out here in the middle of nowhere? 545 00:32:55,967 --> 00:32:59,266 [narrator] These are the last remains of a booming industry 546 00:32:59,266 --> 00:33:01,800 that powered the industrial age. 547 00:33:03,567 --> 00:33:07,800 I believe it was a necessary evil at the time 548 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,700 when we had no other source of fuel. 549 00:33:10,700 --> 00:33:14,867 [Meigs] If you walk on this beach, you see something kind of chilling. 550 00:33:14,867 --> 00:33:18,900 There are bones everywhere. Enormous bones. 551 00:33:18,900 --> 00:33:21,567 [Selwood] It's easy to see how this place got its name. 552 00:33:21,567 --> 00:33:23,200 The Skeleton Coast. 553 00:33:29,867 --> 00:33:32,500 [Paul Lombard] I am a born Namibian. 554 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:34,300 At a young age, my father brought me out 555 00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:35,300 into this area, 556 00:33:35,300 --> 00:33:38,166 and it really grew my passion for the desert. 557 00:33:38,166 --> 00:33:41,400 [narrator] Paul Lombard is a local expedition leader. 558 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:43,767 It took years of experience 559 00:33:43,767 --> 00:33:47,767 to learn how to live in this unforgiving environment. 560 00:33:47,767 --> 00:33:51,266 As an early sailor, if you were stranded on this coast 561 00:33:51,266 --> 00:33:53,567 and had no knowledge of the desert, 562 00:33:53,567 --> 00:33:56,200 the chance of survival was next to nothing. 563 00:33:57,767 --> 00:34:00,567 [narrator] Yet hundreds of people did venture here, 564 00:34:00,567 --> 00:34:04,266 willing to risk their lives in search of fortune. 565 00:34:04,266 --> 00:34:10,000 The prize they sought wasn't buried in the desert, it was in the ocean facing it. 566 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,300 [Meigs] There are giant seal colonies, 567 00:34:15,300 --> 00:34:18,000 sharks come in close to the shore, 568 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,800 and there are whales. 569 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,367 [Selwood] In the winter, they migrated north to the warmer waters, 570 00:34:24,367 --> 00:34:27,800 like those along the South African and Namibian coasts. 571 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:32,000 They sought out shallow bays like these to give birth. 572 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,467 In the early 1700s, the Dutch West India Company sent whalers to this region, 573 00:34:37,467 --> 00:34:41,867 and American, French, and Norwegian hunters soon followed. 574 00:34:41,867 --> 00:34:45,667 [narrator] Whaling stations were quickly established along Namibia's coast 575 00:34:45,667 --> 00:34:48,767 to exploit the abundant population. 576 00:34:48,767 --> 00:34:53,400 This one became known as Meob Bay. 577 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,266 [Meigs] Everyone thinks of Moby Dick and the 19th-century ships 578 00:34:57,266 --> 00:35:02,467 that sailed around the world chasing a variety of whales, especially sperm whales. 579 00:35:02,467 --> 00:35:09,600 But here in Africa, it was possible to hunt whales right off the beach. 580 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:11,967 The unique design of these surf boats 581 00:35:11,967 --> 00:35:14,867 was specific for breaking through the waves. 582 00:35:14,867 --> 00:35:17,800 With a bow and a stern with the same shape. 583 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,967 If the small crew of men got twisted or turned in the waves, 584 00:35:22,967 --> 00:35:26,467 they could just turn their paddles around and row their way through. 585 00:35:26,467 --> 00:35:31,500 They would then have the open ocean to chase across and hunt down their prey. 586 00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:36,000 [narrator] The hunters catch of choice was the Southern right whale. 587 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,266 Legend has it the right whale got its name because for the early whalers, 588 00:35:41,266 --> 00:35:44,900 it was the easiest whale, the right whale to catch. 589 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,166 [Pepera] They often swam up close to the shore 590 00:35:48,166 --> 00:35:49,867 and stayed near the surface, 591 00:35:49,867 --> 00:35:52,000 making it easy to spot and follow them. 592 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,266 [Selwood] They also floated when they were dead, 593 00:35:55,266 --> 00:35:58,400 which made it much easier to lash them to the side of ships 594 00:35:58,400 --> 00:35:59,400 or drag them back to shore. 595 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,700 [narrator] The whale was a literal gold mine, 596 00:36:03,700 --> 00:36:06,867 and a use was found for every part. 597 00:36:06,867 --> 00:36:09,066 [Pepera] The most important product from whaling 598 00:36:09,066 --> 00:36:12,367 was the oil produced from the animal's blubber. 599 00:36:12,367 --> 00:36:14,033 [Meigs] Before the dawn of the electric light, 600 00:36:14,033 --> 00:36:20,066 whale oil was considered the best kind of oil to burn in a lamp for illumination. 601 00:36:20,066 --> 00:36:24,300 And that made the oil extremely valuable. 602 00:36:25,266 --> 00:36:27,166 [narrator] Over the course of a century, 603 00:36:27,166 --> 00:36:32,800 around 3,700 right whales were killed by the industry in Namibia. 604 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,700 Their downfall was inevitable. 605 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,166 [Selwood] By the 1800s, 606 00:36:39,166 --> 00:36:42,200 right whales had been hunted almost to the verge of extinction. 607 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:46,567 But whalers didn't have the technology to catch and harvest whales 608 00:36:46,567 --> 00:36:48,500 which didn't float when they died. 609 00:36:49,700 --> 00:36:53,367 [narrator] As a result, nearshore whaling declined 610 00:36:53,367 --> 00:36:56,300 and stations like this were left abandoned. 611 00:36:56,300 --> 00:36:58,166 But in the decades to come, 612 00:36:58,166 --> 00:37:00,800 the Industrial Revolution's advances 613 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:05,767 would see the trade return to Namibia with a vengeance. 614 00:37:05,767 --> 00:37:09,233 As whaling got mechanized, it became even more deadly. 615 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:14,934 [narrator] In Namibia 616 00:37:14,934 --> 00:37:18,667 are the remnants of a once-prolific whaling industry 617 00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:22,333 that had fallen into decline by the early 1800s. 618 00:37:23,266 --> 00:37:25,567 But at the turn of the century, 619 00:37:25,567 --> 00:37:26,934 technological innovations 620 00:37:26,934 --> 00:37:32,166 brought the trade back to this coast with sinister efficiency. 621 00:37:32,166 --> 00:37:37,800 Steam power was coming in, so ships could travel faster and farther. 622 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,867 And they began to develop mechanized harpoons 623 00:37:40,867 --> 00:37:43,567 that could shoot farther with much more force. 624 00:37:43,567 --> 00:37:46,200 And most, kind of, chilling of all, 625 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:51,400 they developed harpoons with a kind of grenade tip. 626 00:37:52,367 --> 00:37:55,467 [narrator] Jean-Paul Roux is a local marine scientist 627 00:37:55,467 --> 00:37:58,500 who studies the ecosystem of these waters. 628 00:38:00,066 --> 00:38:05,767 Faster whales could be taken because of new technology, 629 00:38:05,767 --> 00:38:12,900 which allowed the whalers to target the humpback whale, blue whales, fin whales. 630 00:38:12,900 --> 00:38:18,166 They were more abundant because they had never been exploited before. 631 00:38:18,166 --> 00:38:21,700 [narrator] 150 miles south of Meob Bay, 632 00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:24,467 just outside the town of Luderitz, 633 00:38:24,467 --> 00:38:29,734 a collection of rusted remains hint at the scale of this deadly new era. 634 00:38:30,567 --> 00:38:34,600 This is the Sturmvogel Bucht whaling station. 635 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:38,266 When the German-run operation opened in 1913, 636 00:38:38,266 --> 00:38:42,233 it was equipped with the latest hunting and processing technology. 637 00:38:44,767 --> 00:38:46,767 So that's where it all started 638 00:38:46,767 --> 00:38:49,266 after the killing of the whale. 639 00:38:49,266 --> 00:38:56,100 It was towed here, fastened to cables and dragged tail-first. 640 00:38:57,867 --> 00:39:02,800 You can see all the cables have made grooves in the concrete here. 641 00:39:04,467 --> 00:39:06,667 [Selwood] Once the whale had been brought to the factory, 642 00:39:06,667 --> 00:39:10,200 a process known as flensing began. 643 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:15,467 Using long hooked knives, workers would cut off sections of blubber, 644 00:39:15,467 --> 00:39:19,367 which were then dragged to the boilers and cooked down into oil. 645 00:39:19,367 --> 00:39:22,166 [narrator] This process required fresh water, 646 00:39:22,166 --> 00:39:24,767 which was hard to come by in the desert. 647 00:39:24,767 --> 00:39:30,600 They had to set up a big, powered system to boil sea water and condense it. 648 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,500 [Pepera] But it wasn't an easy start. 649 00:39:32,500 --> 00:39:35,567 There were constant problems with the water supply, 650 00:39:35,567 --> 00:39:38,567 and they only produced 2,000 barrels of oil, 651 00:39:38,567 --> 00:39:40,400 which was way below what they'd hoped. 652 00:39:41,700 --> 00:39:44,500 [narrator] The situation was about to get far worse 653 00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:47,033 for the whaling station's German owners. 654 00:39:47,367 --> 00:39:48,567 A conflict loomed 655 00:39:48,567 --> 00:39:52,300 that would bring the entire industry here crashing down. 656 00:39:54,300 --> 00:39:57,567 Since 1884, Namibia had been a German colony, 657 00:39:57,567 --> 00:40:01,266 then part of what was known as German South West Africa. 658 00:40:01,266 --> 00:40:04,233 Soon, however, World War I would intervene. 659 00:40:06,900 --> 00:40:08,967 [Pepera] On the request of the British government, 660 00:40:08,967 --> 00:40:11,266 South Africa invaded Namibia 661 00:40:11,266 --> 00:40:13,800 and occupied the town of Luderitz. 662 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:16,867 [Selwood] The station's ships were seized, 663 00:40:16,867 --> 00:40:18,433 and operations ground to a halt. 664 00:40:19,467 --> 00:40:21,500 [Roux] At the end of the war, 665 00:40:21,500 --> 00:40:25,367 all the machinery was taken away, 666 00:40:25,367 --> 00:40:29,166 the sheds itself were left abandoned. 667 00:40:29,166 --> 00:40:31,667 Norwegian whalers, mostly, 668 00:40:31,667 --> 00:40:37,467 discovered that it was far better to look for whales in Antarctica 669 00:40:37,467 --> 00:40:40,567 instead of having these shore stations, 670 00:40:40,567 --> 00:40:44,967 and later on developed the concept of a factory vessel. 671 00:40:44,967 --> 00:40:49,300 And this is what brought most whale stocks to decline. 672 00:40:54,667 --> 00:40:56,066 [narrator] For centuries, 673 00:40:56,066 --> 00:41:00,600 whaling was a vital yet unpleasant part of human development. 674 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:04,967 [Lombard] Whaling in Namibia, or South West Africa at that stage, 675 00:41:04,967 --> 00:41:06,000 put us on the map. 676 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,867 And my town, Walvis Bay, where I was born and bred, 677 00:41:08,867 --> 00:41:12,567 was founded on the backbone of the whaling industry. 678 00:41:12,567 --> 00:41:14,767 [narrator] When the whaling industry collapsed, 679 00:41:14,767 --> 00:41:16,200 workers turned to commercial fishing 680 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:20,700 and the diamond mines that littered the desert for their livelihoods. 681 00:41:20,700 --> 00:41:22,667 Now, decades later, 682 00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:27,867 the Southern right whale has finally started to return to Namibia's waters.