KHADIAH AND PAULINE played to rave reviews at the February 2020 ROMANCE Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Lee Manansala: It’s weird – I love being in Paris. It’s my favorite city, and I’m content to just wander the city and meet with friends, etc. But I’m also big on being productive, not being idle. So in the November of 2018, with airfare to CDG being so low, I wrote something for my actor friend Hadia to act to in, something I could produce with former students of mine based in Paris, and once everyone was on board, we all just went for it.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

I booked airfare to Paris and asked Hadia if she wanted to work on something before I ever started writing, and…