Shih-Ching Tsou’s ‘Left-Handed Girl’ was two decades in the making

Andy Crump: It’s hard not to think about the ways in which (Sean Baker’s) cinema’s DNA mixes into your story. There’s a relationship between the two. What, for you, needed to be done to separate yourself from his work?
Shih-Ching Tsou: We actually started working on Takeout. That's the first film we made. But I had this idea even before Takeout. Left-Handed Girl stemmed from a memory in high school, when I used a knife with my left hand. My grandfather saw, and he scolded me, telling me that the left hand is the devil's hand. So that's where this idea came from. I told Sean this story very early on when I first met him in the early 2000s. We couldn't make it at the time because we were both rookies in the industry.

We went back to New York and we made Takeout first. It was such a labor of love. We spent $3,000; it was just the two of us diving into the story and creating this method of story researching, doing the location scouting and street casting, working in a real location, working within the community together to create the script and make the film more authentic. So if you look at Takeout, you can see a lot of similarities to Left-Handed Girl. From very early on, and throughout the years, we collaborated on his other films: Starlet, Tangerine, Red Rocket. That’s why you can see the similarity—because it started at the very beginning.

AC: You've hit on something revealing: the root of the story being tied to your life. That immediately gives (the film) its own designation. How does it feel to tell a story that’s a part of your life? Is there a cathartic release you get from having it out now?
SCT: Oh, definitely. It’s related to my own life experiences, because as a little girl, I was told by my grandfather not to use my left hand, and I-Ann, the older sister, represents me as a rebellious teenage girl. Recently some of my girlfriends saw the film, and they said that I-Ann just looked like a younger me. It was very interesting when I heard that, because I guess subconsciously I cast somebody who looks like me, in a way, because I wanted to talk about this story through my life experiences.

And then Shu-Fen, the mother—I also became a mother after the script was finished, and my daughter is 9 years old now. So that gave me that very different perspective,  making this mother-daughter-family story. I needed those life experiences to put my perspective through the different stages of being a woman, and tell the story through a different point of view.

AC: In that respect, does it seem like a boon that you couldn't make the movie back when you made Takeout? If you had made this movie then, you'd have been in a very different space in your life.
SCT: For sure. Everything would be very different. The cast would be completely different because at the time, two of them would not be born yet. It's interesting to even think about that. I think everything has this timing, to come to the screen. It needs that time to mature, both the idea itself, but also as a director. It gave me a different point of view and perspective in making this film.

AC: It strikes me that it would've been something else entirely. Maybe it would've been just as wonderful, but Left-Handed Girl feels like a summary of you as a person. In a way, it’s fitting that this is your first solo directorial movie. It’s like getting to know you as your own artist.
SCT: It's definitely a full circle moment. I met Sean in editing class, and now he's the editor on the film. So, a full circle for me, and also for the project.

AC: Now that you've come full circle, I’m curious to see where you go next. Who do you feel like you are now as an artist, and how do you see yourself moving forward?
SCT: Well, I want to tell more of my story after this film. I think it's time for me to step forward as a director. I've been working behind the scenes for 25 years, since Takeout, and I think being a director is very different from, let's say, a producer. As a director, you have to step forward, have to explain your art, and your film. But being a producer, you never really need to say much because the director will always be in front of people and talking about the project. So I think it's also a way for me to get ready as a director and represent my art to people, and talk about the making of the film, and the story behind the film, and everything.

AC: I'm curious where the film’s other elements come from. If I-Jing is your identification character, and the plot comes from life that's happened outside of you, how much ties to you personally?
SCT: Everything in the film is inspired by people around me. For example, my mom has so many siblings, and throughout my life, I’ve seen how they fight. They're very petty on the little things. Their mother always treats certain sisters better. So I’d always seen that, and I put it into the script because I know how real it is. Little nuances in the film, a lot of Taiwanese elements, are from my own observation over 20 years.

I talk about the approach for making this film was almost like making a documentary. I wanted to put all the fun facts of Taiwan into the film and represent it to the audience, not just the Taiwanese audience, but the audience throughout the world. I want them to know about Taiwan in the most truthful way possible.

AC: I picked up on an optimism in the movie, down to the musical theme. There’s a warmth, a fondness, that you feel for the material, these characters, and this place. Is that you reflecting on real-life things you’ve observed and experienced?
SCT: Yeah, definitely. Every time I go back home, I feel that very familiar, very warm feeling. I don't know if you've ever been to Taiwan, but what I hear most from people who talk about going to Taiwan for the first time is how friendly people are there. They will offer anything. Sometimes they offer their home to you if you are a foreigner and go there to visit. They're super warm that way. So I wanted to bring that into the story. I wanted people to feel how wonderful Taiwan is. (The film) is a love letter to Taiwan. I rediscovered all the beauty of Taipei throughout production, because I don't live in Taiwan anymore. I live in New York. Every time I go back there, I treasure all the little moments and little corners in Taipei.

AC: That goes to the documentary characteristic, too. Obviously this is a feature narrative. But there is that quality where the world that we are in, we recognize as real, even though the story is fiction.
SCT: Right, exactly. I wanted to show everything about life here, not just the sad parts. A lot of people think this is such a sad story, but I don't want to just show that. I want to show the spectrum of life: you laugh, you cry, and you fight. It's so important to see everything, not just one segment. It should be everything about life.

AC: That’s how life is, isn't it? Sadness often is accompanied by humor. Humor is often accompanied by grief. Do you feel like that's integral to the soul of your work pre-Left-Handed Girl, and will you keep that up as you continue making movies?
SCT: Oh, yeah. I always want to tell human stories: how people interact, how people connect. It’s so important, I think, especially for a story that can resonate with audiences. If you make a film that doesn't connect with the audience, that's pointless. For me, film is not just a piece of art—film is also a tool. You can connect with people.

It's not just about entertaining, it's also about education. You watch a film, you learn about something in you. Every film I’ve worked on, I’ve learned different things I would never learn if I didn’t work in film. I understand another group of people, I understand another community. When you know more about other people, you have more sympathy, and I think that's how you make people better, and you make the society better—because you sympathize with other people, and that makes people softer. You have to have sympathy with other people, so the whole world will be better.