Pulsation

THE ISLAND OF SHELLS

Bèi Ké Dǎo

World Premiere

Hao-Yuan Chang, Chia-Wen Ko, Shiue-Ying Wei

Taiwan, France, Denmark

2025, 30'

Genre

DOCUMENTARY

Recommended Age

12 years

VO. Chinese, English, Danish

ST. English, Danish

With the support of Taiwanese Cultural Centre in Paris.

In a shadow play and puppet show inspired by the great tradition of Taiwanese theater, accompany the hero of this documentary narrative as he plunges us into the period of the White Terror.

In an environment inspired by the shadow plays of Taiwanese puppet theaters, The Island of Shells revisits the island's years of White Terror in the 1950s, when opponents of the ruling regime were persecuted. Political prisoner Fred Chin recounts his years in prison and his separation from his family. The rest of the story unfolds at the pace of each viewer, who guides the narrative by accompanying a lost boy who wants to find his family and collect artifacts along the way. Part poetic tale, part dramatic narrative, this poignant work sheds light on the traumas of the past.

Mathieu Gayet

Creation

Hao-Yuan Chang, Chia-Wen Ko, Shiue-Ying Wei

Key collaborators

Ji-Heng Leon Jiang, Chun Ting Ou, Ruey Cherng Ma

Screenplay

Hao Yuan Chang, Shiue Ying Wei, Thomas Villepoux

Image

Christopher Schnoor

Editing

Steve Harwood, Hans Pind, Bjørn Haldorsen

Music

Wring Out Laura