S. Leo Chiang (‘Island in Between’ director): ‘I don’t think we ever imagined that we would be here’ at the Oscars [Exclusive Video Interview]

“I’d be lying to you to say that I never dreamt of being an Oscar nominee,” proclaims documentary filmmaker S. Leo Chiang about prospect of earning an Academy Award nomination. For Chiang, the dream came true this year with his nomination for Best Documentary Short for his film “Island in Between.” Speaking to Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview (watch above), Chiang says about his first Oscar nomination, “I know it’s such a cliche– the whole ‘the nomination is a win’– but I really truly feel that way. I don’t think we ever imagined that we would be here.”

“Island in Between” focuses on the island of Kinmen, a small island off the coast of mainland China that has been a centerpiece in the decades long conflicts between China and Taiwan. The island has become a tourist attraction due to military remnants from the Cold War. Chiang, who was born in Taiwan but lives in San Francisco, uses Kimen’s history to examine the complicated relationship between Taiwan, China and the United States as well as his own ambivalent feelings about all three nations.

SEE dozens of interviews with 2024 Oscar nominees

Chiang’s goal with the film was to give audiences a glimpse into this particular region of the world, a glimpse that exists separate from the geopolitical instability that is often reflected in western news reports. “There’s not necessarily a whole lot of storytelling, especially personal storytelling, from Taiwan,” he says. “It was very much my intention to present that point of view and to compliment and contrast what’s already out there about Taiwan.”

In focusing on the island of Kinmen, Chiang draws comparisons with other areas bifurcated by war and are now seen as tourist attractions, places like West Berlin and the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. “It’s this bizarre combination of being a relic of this really cruel, violent war, but now is a tourist attraction where you go and gawk at the other side,” he explains. “But it’s also this ghost that haunts you and tells you that this might happen again in the not so distant future.”

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