When director Tsou Shih-ching was a child in Taiwan, her grandfather scolded her for using her left hand, calling it “the devil’s hand”. She vividly remembers the “sense of guilt”, a feeling of “like I did something wrong” that stayed with her for decades.

That childhood memory has now become the seed for her solo directorial debut, Left-Handed Girl, a deeply personal film that has become one of the year’s most celebrated.

It tells the story of a mother (Janel Tsai) and her two daughters working at a night market noodle stall in Taipei. The film is experienced largely from the untainted, five-year-old perspective of the younger daughter, I-Jing (played by child star Nina Ye).

Premiering at Cannes Critics’ Week in May and now nominated for nine Golden Horse awards, including best narrative feature, the film has been a labour of love for Tsou, a long-time producer for Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, stretching back more than two decades.

Read my full South China Morning Post interview here