Left-Handed Girl (Drama)

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Director: Shih-Ching Tsou
Producer: Shih-Ching Tsou,Sean Baker,Mike Goodridge,Jean Labadie,Alice Labadie
Screenwriter: Shih-Ching Tsou,Sean Baker
Cinematographer: Ko-Chin Chen,Tzu-Hao Kao
Editor: Sean Baker
Key Cast: Shih-Yuan Ma,Janel Tsai,Nina Ye,Teng-Hui Huang

A single mum and her two daughters navigate the margins of Taipei in Shih-Ching Tsou’s Cannes-awarded solo directorial debut, co-written and edited by Sean Baker.

After relocating to a cramped apartment in Taipei with her two daughters, Shu-Fen rents a pricey noodle stall at a bustling night market. The elder daughter, steely and sullen I-Ann, takes a job selling betel nuts to add to their meagre finances; while the younger, curious five-year-old I-Jing, drifts through the bustling neon streets secretly pinching trinkets. I-Jing is burdened by an old superstition told to her by her grandfather: that her left-handedness is a curse that must be overcome. Meanwhile, the sisters’ grandmother is in criminal danger of her own – and isn’t the only one in the family harbouring a secret.

A long-time collaborator of indie darling Sean Baker (Anora; Tangerine, MIFF 2015), with whom she co-directed and co-wrote 2004’s Take Out – and who also serves as co-writer and editor here – Shih-Ching Tsou has gone on to produce and appear in many of his films in the intervening two decades. Her self-assured second feature, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes and won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, is reminiscent of some of her best slice-of-life collaborations as producer with Baker. Comprising an excellent ensemble cast including non-professionals and experienced actors alike, Left-Handed Girl draws on Tsou’s own memories of the quiet rebellions that emerge from the constraints of traditional family life.

“This deft tale of familial love, resentment and shame across three generations of women is as exuberant as the city it’s filmed in.” – Film Ireland


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