The story and characters are loosely inspired by the real shipwreck of the Zeewijk from the Dutch East India company on the Australian coast in June 1727. The two young men who were discovered to be in a same-sex relationship among the survivors were both sentenced to death and marooned, left to die each on a separate island, according to the historical records from the captain's journals.
The full title of the film is "Burning Soul: The Raising of the Flag," but without the colon punctuation. The sub-title is not shown until the end of the film.