I would have been pleasantly surprised if Netflix had changed strategies this year and decided to commit to audio describing all their International films in consideration, but alas, they have not. Left Handed Girl does sit in the same world as Il Conde from a few years ago, where they did bother to do a dub track, so I have an understanding of Taiwan’s Oscar submission. Directed by Shi-Ching Tsuo, a frequent collaborator of Academy Award Winner Sean Baker, who is making her solo feature debut here, the premise stands as being what I talk of when I lament the lack of world cinema access to blind and low vision users in America. I’m not sure many here grew up with families that believed the left hand was the devil’s hand, but that is the reason the film is titled left handed girl.

Centered on a woman and her daughters, who are trying to open a store in a night market, and make enough to survive, while also dealing with this generational belief system that is weighing down one of the daughters as she faces a future of being, I guess, possessed? It was a pretty breezy watch, and wasn’t too far removed from the feeling of a Sean Baker film. it just feels a bit slowed down, as he sometimes runs at a frenetic pace. However, a lot of the directorial choices Tsou makes, in terms of vibrancy and contrast, or fly on the wall style filming are lost. It is kind of appropriate to see a film where Tsou had to hide the act of filmmaking in a year where Richard Linklater reminds us how Jean-Luc Godard approached Breathless, and in the same year as It Was Just An Accident was made essentially in secret.

With audio description, I can only assume my grade would be even higher. I’d have more context than just what was given in the dialogue. So many studios don’t even bother with a dub for those of us who can’t see subtitles. Even Netflix has Oscar nominees from year’s past which are 100% inaccessible to us unless you’re fluent in Spanish. Netflix is the studio that allowed Roma to enter the Best Picture race with no audio description, which just empowered Neon to follow with no audio description for Parasite. These changes have to be made and addressed.

I believe an AD track should come before a dub. Most people don’t actually need a dub who aren’t already visually impaired. the only reason I could think of would be literacy. Just an inability to read for some reason. Chances are, if you are finding it hard to read the text, you might also be lacking visual context along the way, which audio description could pick up. Like, for example, texting. What happens when text is shown on screen that is on a screen, but not part of the subtitles?

Based on how I was given Left Handed Girl, I have to treat it like I do English language films with no audio description, some of which I’ve gone fresh, and some rotten, based on the lack of description. here, the story isn’t particularly hard to follow, and is somewhat rewarding in its uniqueness. At the end, I had more fun and enjoyment than not. I could see this being a contender this year, but my guess would be it makes the shortlist, but not the final five. Then again, it seems to be Netflix’s only contender in the category, and since I’m only aware of one International contender with audio description this year, having something that is at least dubbed feels like a tiny victory in the right direction. Not the destination, but the direction toward the destination.

Tsou clearly comes from the Sean Baker school of ideaology, and didn’t break with his typical conventions. She focused on a story about working class people, based on people she has known, much like Baker does. The understanding of her subject material helps Left Handed Girl feel like something special is in the mix, and I wonder which dominant hand got her to this point. Is this the devil’s script?

I would have loved it if Netflix had sprung for audio description for Left Handed Girl, but the dub track opened me up to a special film from a first time auteur excited to share her culture and traditions with us, with the same care that co-writer Sean Baker often employs. A fine debut.

Fresh: 7.1/10