Island in Between (金門) on Tuesday was nominated for the Documentary Short Film category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, continuing a string of successes for Taiwanese films internationally.
Island in Between director S. Leo Chiang (江松長) said he was happy to have the film — which explores the history of Kinmen County — be a portal through which audiences from other countries could see and gain a better understanding of Taiwan.
“We never expected that this documentary would be so well received by people in the industry, nor did we expect to have so many views, a result of the film being carried on the New York Times’ Op-Docs platform,” he said.
Photo: CNA
With scenes such as the opening one — a shot that circles the wreckage of a rusted tank half buried in sand on a beach, its turret pointed toward the water — and one showing China from a beach in Kinmen County, the documentary was his effort to “make sense” of the duality of how Kinmen connects Taiwan and China, but also keeps them apart.
The proximity of Kinmen to China is constantly mentioned in the 20-minute film. At the end, Chiang says that the people of Kinmen are “forever caught in between” Taiwan and China.
Chiang said that by observing the lives of the people in Kinmen, the film hopes to further explore the cross-strait issue and provide meaningful contributions to international relations.
“Especially at a time when the globe is trying to understand and mend the rift caused by the Ukraine-Russia war, as well as the strife between Israel and Hamas, I hope that my film can provide some help in promoting peace,” he said.
Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) congratulated Island in Between for being nominated, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday.
The honor continues the recent successes of films directed by Taiwanese after A Sun (陽光普照), a film directed by Chung Meng-hung (鍾孟宏), was shortlisted for nomination, Shih said.
A Sun — a drama about a family struggling with loss and trying to rebuild — was shortlisted an Oscar in the Best International Feature Film category for the 2021 awards.
Taiwanese films winning international accolades highlights the burgeoning creativity in the nation’s filmmaking industry, Shih said.
CNEX Studio Corp, which collaborated with Chiang to produce Island in Between, said it was happy that the documentary would allow more people internationally to learn more about Taiwan.
The Academy Awards are scheduled for March 10.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS