Tsou trades the producer’s chair for the director’s lens in a vibrant Taipei-set story co-written by long-time partner Sean Baker.
Filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou has taken on the next challenge in her career with her solo directorial debut Left-Handed Girl, released in late 2025 to enthusiastic reviews. Co-produced and written alongside creative partner Sean Baker, the intimate family drama follows a mother and her two daughters as they open a noodle stand in a Taipei night market. This film idea was the first the pair wanted to make since meeting in an editing class in 2001.
Shot exclusively on an iPhone, the film was intentionally framed through the little girl’s perspective, a choice reflected in the use of heightened, vibrant cinematography. Though the Netflix film made the shortlist for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, it missed out on being nominated.
Left-Handed Girl was Tsou’s first directorial endeavor in over two decades. In 2004, Tsou and Baker co-directed Take Out an ultra-low-budget drama that follows an undocumented Chinese deliveryman.
Tsou’s career has primarily been defined by her work as an indie producer on films focusing on underrepresented and marginalized subcultures.
Her most successful film 2017’s The Florida Project grossed over 5x its budget and picked up an Oscar nomination.
Tsou also co-produced 2021’s Red Rocket, 2015’s Tangerine, and 2012’s Starlet.
The Taiwan-born filmmaker moved to the U.S. in 1998 to pursue her master’s in media studies at The New School in New York City. Since the release of Left-Handed Girl Tsou said that she wants to make a film in New York City next.
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