""I remember Sean was so worried about it," says Tsou, who served as a producer, costume designer, bit-part actor and goodness knows what else on the film, a landmark in digital filmmaking that set the scene for later films like Steven Soderbergh's Unsane and 28 Years Later. "I had to convince him that the most important thing was the story, and whatever camera you use, that's just tools, you can use whatever that fits the project, just like all the Dogme 95 films we used to watch together.""
"In Left-Handed Girl, Tsou steps up with a solo directing debut made, just like Take-Out, for a few thousand dollars and shot, just like Tangerine, on an iPhone. It's a project she considers a culmination of her 25 years in the industry, making smart, charismatic films about marginalised communities able to reach beyond the usual arthouse crowd and connect with wider audiences. It's also, coincidentally, the first film that she and Baker talked about making together. Soon after they met, Tsou told him a story about her childhood in Taiwan, where her grandfather took her to task for using a knife with her left hand - the "devil's hand" in traditional lore. Baker loved the idea and the pair began working up a script, but a trip to Taipei in 2001 convinced them the film lay beyond their limited means, so they began working on Take-Out instead."
Shih-Ching Tsou has been Sean Baker's longtime producer and creative partner, shaping notable indie films since the early 2000s. She co-directed On Take-Out (2004), a socially conscious film about a migrant worker trapped in debt slavery made for £3,000. She helped persuade Baker to shoot Tangerine (2013) on an iPhone 5s and served in multiple roles on that landmark digital film. Left-Handed Girl is her solo directing debut, filmed on an iPhone for a modest budget, and represents a culmination of her 25 years making films about marginalised communities with broader audience appeal.
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