Taiwan movie Left-Handed Girl shot on iPhones and inspired by real night-market stories

LONDON – Taiwanese-American film-maker Tsou Shih-ching 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 her solo directorial debut.

She co-directed American indie Take Out (2004) with American film-maker and Oscar winner Sean Baker (Anora, 2024) and the two became frequent collaborators. Baker co-wrote, edited and produced Left-Handed Girl, which is showing on Netflix.

Around two decades in the making, the film stemmed from Tsou’s grandfather telling her off for using her left hand, traditionally believed to be the devil’s hand.

She 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. However, 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.

In Left-Handed Girl, a single mother (Janel Tsai) and her two daughters (Ma Shih-yuan and Nina Ye) 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 younger child is scolded for using her left hand by her conservative grandfather (Akio Chen).

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 the star is. If you’re using an iPhone, they wouldn’t think that’s a movie,” she added.

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 strong. You can see how women survive in this society that’s male-dominated. It’s important to show that dynamic and to have the audience think about their own family.” REUTERS