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Film 'Left-Handed Girl' set in Taipei night market

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Young girl scolded by her grandfather for using left hand

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Movie is shot on iPhones

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou

takes audiences to a bustling Taipei night market in family

drama "Left-Handed Girl", weaving in personal and "collected"

experiences.

Chosen to represent Taiwan at the 2026 Oscars, the movie

marks Tsou's solo directorial debut.

She co-directed 2004's "Take Out" with Oscar winner Sean

Baker and the two became frequent collaborators. The "Anora"

filmmaker co-wrote, edited and produced "Left-handed Girl".

Around two decades in the making, "Left-Handed Girl" stemmed

from her grandfather telling Tsou off for using her left hand,

traditionally believed to be the devil's hand.

Tsou shared the story with Baker after meeting him at

university in New York and they set out to make a movie,

finishing a draft script in 2010 and travelling to Taiwan to

scout locations, but the project proved difficult to finance.

Tsou kept in touch with the night market vendors over the

years and found new inspiration when she became a mother.

"I'd always go back to visit them, getting to know their

stories and the life in the night market... it's like collecting

stories and also maturing this whole idea," she said.

TAIPEI NOODLE STAND

In "Left-Handed Girl", a single mother and her two daughters

return to Taipei to open a noodle stand after living in the

countryside. Settling into new routines, they face new

challenges and past secrets resurface after the youngest child

is scolded for using her left hand by her conservative

grandfather.

The movie is shot on iPhones, the only option for filming in

a busy market, said Tsou.

"I always knew I wanted to shoot in a real night market but

to do that, you have to hide everything because when people see

you filming on location, they always want to know who is the

star. If you're using an iPhone...they wouldn't think that's a

movie," said Tsou.

The approach also helped show the young protagonist's

perspective on the world around her.

"We want the audience to see it through this little girl's

eyes. It's like a sense of wonder," said Tsou, who

juxtapositioned the vibrant scenes with an intergenerational

family story.

"I wanted to keep the whole family dynamic really strong. You

can see how women survive in this society that's

male-dominated," said Tsou. "It's really important to show that

dynamic and to have the audience think about their own family."

"Left-Handed Girl" premieres on Netflix ( NFLX ) on Friday.