Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film


175: S. Leo Chiang on "Island in Between"

February 15, 2024

Filmmaker S. Leo Chiang reflects on the relations between Taiwan and China in the Oscar nominated short "Island in Between" streaming from The New York Times Op-Docs. Leo travels to the Kinmen Islands that belong to Taiwan, but lie near the coast of China on the front lines of geopolitics.

Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Leo about the film and his career working between the United States, Taiwan and China. Leo discusses his 2019 documentary Our Time Machine, the PBS series Asian Americans, the creation of the Asian American Documentary Network, A-Doc, and his collaborations with Jean Tsien who was interviewed on episode 130.