The Taiwanese film “Left Handed Girl,” an international submission for the 2026 Academy Awards, was featured in a screening at the Asian Film Festival at the Culver Theater on Nov. 15. In the U.S., the film received a limited theatrical release on Nov. 14, and will begin streaming on Netflix on Nov. 28, 2025. Oscar-winning auteur Sean Baker, the film’s producer and co-writer, spoke with the press in a Q&A after the screening.
Set in contemporary Taipei, “Left-Handed Girl” follows five-year-old I-Jing and her family as they struggle to rebuild their lives after moving from the countryside. Through the quiet, observant and often confused eyes of a child the film traces the family’s slow unraveling under financial pressure, fractured relationships and impossible expectations.
As I-jing wanders through neon night markets, cramped apartments and the chaos of the city, she becomes a witness to her mother’s exhaustion, her older sister’s anger and the family’s attempts to hold themselves together in an environment that is both tender and unforgiving. The film unfolds through her perspective, capturing the small acts of care, survival and humor that thread their lives together.
“Left Handed Girl,” a mix of deep sorrow, humor, a realistic slice of life and almost documentary style, was recorded entirely with iPhones. The debut solo director and co-writer Shih-Ching Tsou worked with Sean Baker, a longtime collaborator on previous works “Tangerine” (2015) and “The Florida Project” (2017). This creative synergy and the shared visual language shaping the film’s sense of contemporary continuity and evolution becomes even more striking when considering that its storyline was written two decades ago and only recently brought to life.
“There are many cultural specificities in this film because it was always about celebrating Taipei,” Baker said. “But we also wanted to capture universal themes so that, no matter where you are in the world, you can identify and connect. Shih-Ching and I held onto an old adage from day one: ‘The truth will set you free.’ This film is about revealing the truth and how that honesty can make you healthy again.”
The cinematography of colorful city lights at night and the beautiful infrastructures of Taipei’s landscapes, stores and lifestyles, showing a realistic perspective of a busy Taiwanese person, was immersive, especially complemented by the iPhone format. The characters I-Jing (Nina Ye), the youngest sister, her older sister I-An (Ma Shih-yuan) and the mother Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai) all go through trial and error, moving from the countryside and confronting their flaws. The trio explores their feelings of foreignness and attempts to balance modernity and traditional culture between the youth and the older generations in Taipei.
The film is a deep, touching exploration of the family through the female lens. It depicts difficult financial issues, showing single mother Shu Fen working full-time at a noodle stand while trying to balance rent dues. Unable to escape her ex-husband’s debts while being constantly compared to her successful siblings’ lifestyles, Shu Fen’s story is equal parts heartbreaking and frustrating.
I-Ann left high school to help financially by working at a betel nut stall. She is unhappy with life, constantly rejecting the possibility of opening up and instead coping with aggressiveness.
I-Jing, a wholesome, youthful 5-year-old, portrays the childhood perspective as she clings to her innocent life. Soon, she spirals into confusion, wondering if the unfortunate realities are due to her, and wonders whether her left hand is spiritually evil when her grandpa tells her to stop making a habit of using it.
Despite tackling the female experience from multiple angles — childhood, adulthood, motherhood — each character’s emotional arcs intertwine through moments of vulnerable connection.
During the Q&A session, Baker discussed how he was able to balance the complex themes, moments of levity and hope throughout the movie.
“Life isn’t just misery, even during hard times, people use humor to cope,” he said. “That mix of comedy and pathos is what makes life feel real. I love dark, ‘miserabilist’ cinema, but sometimes it can feel one-note. We wanted this film to feel more true to life.”
He added that the presence of a young child in the story naturally shaped the tone.
“We wanted to have a balance, especially with a child, because, you know, they’re oblivious a lot. Children absorb everything, but they’re also a little oblivious to what adults are going through,” Baker said. “They don’t fully understand the hardships. So we wanted to see the world through her lighter, more positive perspective.”
Baker said this balance came through not just in writing, but also in choices about music, tone, lighting and style. When asked how he navigated writing and directing in a language he doesn’t speak, Baker explained that he has experience collaborating across many languages.
“I’ve worked in Russian and Armenian before, so I’m used to co-writing in English and then having it translated into the local language,” he said.
Because of this, he doesn’t fully understand the dialogue on set: “I don’t actually know what’s being said until I get the dailies back. All the raw footage comes with full subtitles, every word.”
Even without understanding Mandarin in real time, Baker relies on nonverbal cues: “I judge performance through inflection, energy and feeling. And of course, my co-writer or collaborators always have the final say on accuracy. In every language I’ve worked in, there’s someone I trust who helps guide that process.”