Five hundred years ago, Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set sail to gain control of the global spice trade. What resulted was the first circumnavigation of the earth, laying the groundwork for colonization and globalization still felt today. This episode demonstrates humanity’s quest to understand the true dimensions of the planet while sailing to the Spice Islands of Indonesia.
Film Interviewees
- Andrew Lambert – Naval Historian, King’s College London
- Frank Berger – Curator, Historisches Museum Frankfurt
- Hidayatullah Mujafar Syah – Crown Prince, Sultanate of Ternate, Indonesia
- Xabier Alberdi Lonbide – Director, Museo Marítimo Vasco, San Sebastián, Spain
- Xabier Agote – Albaola Basque Maritime Heritage Association, San Sebastián, Spain
- Mikel Leoz – Albaola Basque Maritime Heritage Association, San Sebastián, Spain
- José Maria Moreno Madrid – Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da Tecnologia, Lisbon
- Alfredo Teko Prieto – Ethnologist and Archaeologist, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
- Leticia Caro – Representative of the Kawésqar, Punta Arenas, Chile
- Soledad González Díaz – Centro de Estudios Históricos, Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago, Chile
- Amin Faaroek – Prime Minister, Sultanate of Tidore, Indonesia
- Juni Wijaya – Spice Trader, Ternate
- Nia Naelul Hasanah Ridwan – Marine Archaeologist, Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries, Jakarta
- Borja Aguinagalde – Director, Archivo Histórico de Euskadi, Bilbao, Spain
Secrets of the Dead: Magellan’s Crossing is a production of IFAGE Filmproduktion for ZDF, in association with ZDF Enterprises and The WNET Group. Written and directed by Hannes Schuler. Narrated by Jay O. Sanders. Pia Schädel, Andrea Haas-Blenske, and V. Schmidt-Sondermann are producers. For ZDF, Georg Graffe is commissioning editor. For Secrets of the Dead: Benjamin Phelps is supervising producer. Stephanie Carter is executive producer. Stephen Segaller is executive in charge.
Funding for Secrets of the Dead is provided by public television viewers.
