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The Qiaotou youth LI Wen-hsin was arrested during the December 10, 1979, demonstration spearheaded by Formosa Magazine. After being thrown into prison, he learned a way to survive: mixing saltwater with white rice. He also recalled wonderful times with his girlfriend A-chun, the joys and suffering he shared with friends and family, and his longing for democracy. In this prison, referred to by inmates as the “Hotel Saltwater,” Wen-hsin and his companions, though suffering greatly, never let their thirst for freedom be extinguished.
If you are a woman who wants to have children, you are not allowed to have any assisted reproductive treatments in Taiwan unless you are married to a man. In 2019, Mota and City “were allowed” to become each other’s wives but they are still “not allowed” to have children. Despite the fact, they refuse to bow down to the law and have found a route not regulated by any laws just to fulfill their longing to become mothers.
A grandmother, who once dreamed of becoming a dancer, spent her youth clipping tickets, bound by duty. Marriage promised freedom, yet life wove tighter threads. Facing her own frailty, she casts off the past, rowing toward the unknown — refusing to let her daughter inherit her cage, vowing to dance forever.
Filmed during countrywide local elections of mayors and legislatives between November 2022 and February 2023, “An Island” is a documentary about the people of Taiwan, living their lives alongside permanent threats from the outside. Spanning the whole island and the life of its people from the country-side to city-life, the film invites the viewers to immerse themselves into the daily life of this uncertain period.
