My Own Private Green Island

Green Island is a small but beautiful island east of Taiwan. Nowadays, it is a tourist attraction, but before 1987 the island served as a penal colony for political prisoners. Hordes of tourists are led along places that used to be hidden from view, like the spot where the executions took place. Director Hsu Juei-Lan follows three people who have a special bond with the island. In Hsiao-yun’s case, this is involuntary: her father was incarcerated here and often contemplated jumping into the seawater. Now, she visits this emotionally charged place for the first time. The artist A-tsai helped the victims of the 1999 earthquake, but became manic-depressive and came to look for peace on the island. The diver A-deh seems to be bothered the least by the scars that are visible everywhere on the island.