The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months

When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller. This is the story of Sione, Fatai, Tevita Fifita, Kolo, Mano, and Luke: six Tongan boys who survived on the island of ’Ata for 15 months. It’s a story of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other. This documentary was made in 1966 for Channel 7, Australia. Note: there are probably some factual inaccuracies in the documentary. For example, Mano and Sione told me that it didn’t take 3 months for them to find their way up, just a couple of days. You can read more about the ’boys of ’Ata’ in my new book ’Humankind: A Hopeful History’.