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ISLAND IN BETWEEN

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Director: 

S. Leo Chiang

Documentary Short

2023

|

Taiwan, USA

Minutes: 

20

English and Mandarin

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ISLAND IN BETWEEN

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ISLAND IN BETWEEN

The rural Taiwanese outer islands of Kinmen sit merely two miles off the coast of China. Kinmen attracts tourists for its remains from the 1949 Chinese Civil War. It also marks the frontline for Taiwan in its escalating tension with China. 


Filmmaker S. Leo Chiang weaves lyrical vignettes of tourist visits and local life with his own narrative as someone negotiating ambivalent personal bonds to Taiwan, China, and the US, ISLAND IN BETWEEN explores the uneasy peace in these islands, and contemplates Taiwan's uncertain future.


  • Best Documentary Short Nominee, Academy Awards 2023

  • World Premiere, Hawaii International Film Festival

  • VC Film Festival, 2023

"Chiang with a mix of archival imagery, narration and heartfelt familial connections, offers us a brief but tantalising glimpse of the significance of this scenically stunning part of the world"
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Director's Notes

"Chiang uses the [Kinmen] islands as a metaphorical insight into his own sense of identity and belonging, split between his Taiwanese heritage and American citizenship which adds to the profundity of this filmic exploration"
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Director's Notes

"At once personal, poetic, and educational—a mix one wishes more of this year's short-form Oscar contenders managed so well.”
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