Left-Handed Girl, the debut feature from director Shih-Ching Tsou and co-written by the acclaimed filmmaker Sean Baker, has secured a global streaming deal with Netflix, which is set to premiere the film on November 28.
The film, which is Taiwan’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards, tells a multi-generational story of three women. The film, which is deeply personal to Tsou, who drew inspiration from her own childhood and family stories in Taipei, follows a single mother and her two daughters who move back to the city from the countryside. They open a stand at a bustling night market, where they must adapt to their new environment and find a way to maintain their family unity.
But their lives are complicated when the girls’ traditional grandfather forbids his youngest left-handed granddaughter from using her “devil hand.” This seemingly simple prohibition begins to unravel decades of family secrets.
The cast of the Mandarin and Taiwanese language movie includes Janel Tsai as the mother, along with Nina Ye and Shih-Yuan Ma as the daughters. The film also stars Teng-Hui Huang.
Acclaim and Recognition
Left-Handed Girl has already gained significant international recognition, receiving the Gan Foundation Award and the Prix du Rail d’Or at the Critics’ Week competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected for competition at the Toronto and Busan International Film Festivals.
Deadline Chief Film Critic Pete Hammond praised the film, saying, “Shih-Ching shows strong command of storytelling and shifting tones with high dramatics that could careen out of control but never do, instead keeping us on the edge of our seats. Baker’s tight editing really comes into play here and proves worthy of Douglas Sirk at his height. Ultimately what holds it all together are the strong performances all around.”
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The film, which currently holds a 95% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is set to be released in French cinemas on September 17, followed by a theatrical release in Taiwan on October 31. The film will have its North American premiere in November, before its global streaming debut on Netflix on November 28.
