Fresh from his Oscars sweep with Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora, Sean Baker could be back on the Croisette this year as the producer, co-writer and editor of long-time American-Taiwanese collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-Handed Girl.
The Taipei-set drama was announced on Monday as having being selected for competition in Cannes parallel section Critics’ Week.
The film stars Taiwanese star Janel Tsai as a mother and her two daughters who returns to Taipei after several years of living in the countryside to open a stand at a buzzing night market.
The trio have to adapt to this new environment to make ends meet and succeed in maintaining the family unity. Three generations of family secrets begin to unravel after the youngest daughter who’s left-handed is told by her traditional grandfather to never use her “devil hand”.
Tsou has collaborated with Sean Baker since 2004, co-directing, co-writing and co-producing his second feature credit Take-Out.
She went on to work with Baker on his third film Starlet as an executive producer and costume designer, and collaborated again on Tangerine as a producer and costume designer, as well as helping out in the art department and as an additional camera operator. She also made her acting debut in the film. The multi-hyphenate filmmaker also produced Baker’s next feature The Florida Project.
Left-Handed Girl marks Tsou’s first feature and is co-written, edited and produced by Baker.
“The film was edited by Sean. it’s true that there’s a connection, I’m not going to hide it, and I don’t think Shih-Ching Tsou will either,” commented Cannes Critics’ Week Artistic Director Ava Cahen. “It’s a bit reminiscent of Tangerine and The Florida Project, for the way it captures reality, with a form of wonder, or at least a desire for the fabulous.”
“The editing of the film is exceptional, the direction is very powerful, and above all, this film has a frenetic pace, a crazy pace,” she added.
Paris-based Le Pacte is handling international sales.
