Will Sean Baker‘s success at this year’s Oscars with “Anora” rub off on Shih-Ching Tsou‘s ‘Left-Handed Girl“? That’s what Netflix hopes, as Taiwan has selected the longtime Baker collaborator’s film as the country’s official selection for Best International Film for the 2026 Academy Awards.
Co-written with Baker, but her first standalone directorial feature, Shih-Ching’s film follows three generations of a Taipei family. Read on for an official synopsis for “Left-Handed Girl,” courtesy of Netflix:
A single mother and her two daughters return to Taipei after several years living in the countryside to open a stand at a buzzing night market. Each in their own way will have to adapt to this new environment to make ends meet and maintain the family unity. But when their traditional grandfather forbids his youngest left-handed granddaughter from using her “devil hand,” generations of family secrets begin to unravel.
“Left-Handed Girl” stars Shih-Yuan Ma, Janel Tsai, Nina Ye, and Teng-Hui Huang.
Shih-Ching Tsou and Baker also produced the film with Mike Goodridge, Jean Labadie, and Alice Labadie. The movie had its world premiere in the Critics’ Week section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May, where it received rave reviews and won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution. The Playlist’s review awarded the film a B+: read it here.
“Left-Handed Girl” hits select theaters on November 14 before it arrives on Netflix on November 28. Watch a trailer for the film below.
