A documentary short film about Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen Island has been nominated for best documentary short in the 2024 Academy Awards. The film, titled “Island in Between” was made by Taiwanese American filmmaker S. Leo Chiang (江松長) and released through The New York Times’ “Op-Docs” platform.
In an interview with CNA, Chiang said that the name “Island in Between” has a symbolic meaning for him. Chiang says being born in Taiwan, raised in the United States, and working on documentaries in China has informed his perspective on cross-strait issues. He says he hopes to explore the cross-strait issue through the lens of the locals living on Kinmen, which is administered by Taiwan but is just a few kilometers away from the Chinese city of Xiamen. Chiang says that in the face of conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, he hopes his film can play some small role in promoting peace.
The film is available for free on YouTube and has received over 110,000 views since it was released last month. Many people said the film resonated with them and left comments saying the film helped illustrate the national identity crisis faced by many Taiwanese.