Phantom Island

Author: Jun Yang

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.)





Super 16mm transferred to HDCAM

For video’s call page, please click here.

Location Code: AV.YAJ.PHI
Language: No dialogue, text in English
Year of Publication: 2009