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 Lef...