ISLAND IN BETWEEN: A Film Review
by Karen Pecota

S. Leo Chiang | Taiwan | 2024

While tensions rise between Taiwan’s frontline and China, filmmaker S. Leo Chiang uses his short documentary ISLAND IN BETWEEN to present what is at stake for the Taiwanese people and the body of land they inhabit. Their future is uncertain and Chiang creatively explains the reasons and the depth of Taiwan’s crisis, calling it an uneasy peace.

Just two miles off the coast of China is the rural Taiwanese outer islands of Kinmen. This area is known as the frontline for Taiwan, though the islands are an attraction for tourism due to the war remains left from the 1949 Chinese Civil War.

Chiang’s beautiful cinematography and his story that showcases Kinmen in his ISLAND IN BETWEEN, is his longing to play some part in advocating for peace as Taiwan is caught in the mire between two superpowers. The escalating conflicts between the U.S. and China continue down a path of muscle flexing, the inhabitants of Taiwan often feel insignificant, or as Chiang puts it, “their perspectives are supplementary.” Meaning, that the world doesn’t really understand the realities of the life led by the Taiwanese caught in between the struggles of the powers of China and the U.S. that overshadow their existence.

Chiang was born in Taiwan, grew up in the U.S., and worked in China. He says, “It is a mix that’s given me a front-row seat to the decades-long complex dance between these nations.” Adding, “I made this film hoping to contribute to a deeper understanding of the Taiwan Strait Crisis through the eyes of the people who live in it, including myself.”

Chiang’s ISLAND IN BETWEEN was nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary short category at the 2024 Oscar awards ceremony.