Phantom Island

Synopsis : Phantom Island 2009 | Super 16mm Film on HD | Sound | 8’ A short film of an island that is being transported through a city, later towed and released in the sea, floating away. The film ends with the text: “Phantom Island was filmed in the East China Sea, off Taiwan; in the territory between P.R. China, R.China (Taiwan) and Japan.” A film on the disappearance of places; of territories and places that exist or existed, real or fictional. The artificial island has the shape of Taiwan, a nation that per se does not exist; a phantom island, a pseudo nation. It refers to Taiwan’s history and identity – a country that has been ruled by the Japanese for more than 60 years, an island that has been occupied by the Nationalist Army (Kuomingdan) since 1949 and a nation that is claimed by the Peoples Republic of China. It is shot in film in order to make it look more like a fiction film rather then a documentary. Courtesy artist and Galerie Martin Janda, Vitamin Creative Space, ShugoArts (*Phantom Island was produced before the Sankaku Island / Diaoyu Dao dispute between Taiwan, Mainland China and Japan caught attention. It was filmed in the same area.)