The Philippines, 1995. Teenager Billie is sent by her father from Manila to the remote town of St. Isidro to attend a Catholic all-girls’ school. There she lives with her aunt, the school’s religion teacher, who instructs the girls on the sinfulness of homosexuality. With her short hair and combat boots, Billie stands out from the other students, including the popular Emma. Romance blossoms when the two of are assigned a school project to work on together, but can it survive under the school’s strict religious rules and a surprise twist of fate?
Samantha Lee has worked as a film and commercial director for the past ten years.
After completing her Master of Communication, with distinction, at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) she moved back to the Philippines to write and direct her first feature film, "Baka Bukas" (2016). It won the "Emerging Talent Award" at Outfest 2017 and the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. It has screened in festivals in New York, San Francisco, Osaka, Melbourne, Madrid and Hamburg.
Her second film, called "Billie and Emma" (2018) won the Audience Award for Best Narrative at Inside Out 2019, the Jury Award Runner-Up for Best International Film in Out on Film Atlanta and Runner-Up for Audience Award for Favorite Feature at Seattle Queer Film Festival. It has been screened in over thirty film festivals internationally.
Her first series called Sleep With Me starring Janine Gutierrez and Lovi Poe premiered in Outfest 2022 where it won the audience award for Best Episodic.
She currently works as the Multimedia Editor for CNN Philippines Life while freelancing as a TVC director and taking up her second masters degree in Women's Studies and Development at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
She has talked about using romantic comedies as a tool for advocating for better representation of women and the LGBTQ+ community in various publications like Vice Paper, and Nylon.