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Lola Glaudini has spent decades in front of the camera — The Sopranos, Ray Donovan, Criminal Minds — and, more quietly, behind it. With Tu Viens D'où, the actor-director turns her attention to a kind of romance that rarely makes it to screen: new love after 50, playful but lived-in, told entirely through the phone as two lovers on separate continents retrace how they met.
It's a petit film by design — a visual poem set to an original score by 12-time Grammy nominee Meshell Ndegeocello, patient and tender and unmistakably romantic. Glaudini wrote it from personal experience, and that intimacy shows in every voice-to-voice exchange.
Key Takeaways
- A non-linear love story told through phone calls across time zones, built on memory rather than a tidy three-act arc.
- An original score by Meshell Ndegeocello, with no sourced music — a full collaborative language between composer and director.
- Proof that the right collaborators, from DP Adeola Alao to editor Anita Chao, are an independent filmmaker's golden key.
Glaudini spoke about writing from life, dancing on camera, and the last-minute location save that changed everything.
Interview
What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?
I wrote Tu Viens D'où from a personal place: to offer a more nuanced kind of romance, about new love after 50. This was something I experienced and wanted to portray onscreen. Beauty and positive energy feels like a needed breather.
A long-distance romance lives through the phone, so my visual tool became scenes of shared memories — through calls that show how connection must be fed, tended, and kept alive across time zones and cultures. This is about something visceral, tactile, and magical — the kind of connection that doesn't happen in your 20s. It's still playful — it's just lived a little.
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process, creatively or logistically?
Ah! We had to be very creative with our locations on such a small budget. We were a nimble crew who went in and out of public spaces with stealth planning. As far as post-production, the idea of a complete score and no sourced music was all I could imagine once Meshell Ndegeocello said she would write the music. Talking to her about the emotional state of each beat was a beautiful exchange of ideas and senses.
What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?
The dance sequences! Both Jimmy and I are people who love to dance. We wanted to show our love of the boogie, and that came about involving my dear friend, the fantastic dancer and choreographer Raquel Horsford-Best.
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?
Changing a main location at the last minute. We were going to film in one friend's fabulous house, and she had something come up for the date we were going to use it. I called around to everyone I knew. And in the nick of time, a good friend offered her incredible house with beautiful views in the Hollywood Hills. It raised our production value by tens of thousands! That was a life-saving moment.
What tool, technique, or collaborator helped most during production?
The editing. Anita Chao and I have worked together many times and have known one another for decades. Having her as my editor means that I don't have to explain much. We share an aesthetic brain. She is also far more romantic and sentimental than me. Without her, there would be no explanation, dialogue, or nostalgia. She reminds me of the needed humanity at all times.
What is the greatest strength of independent filmmaking, and how did you lean into it here?
Who you choose as collaborators is your golden key. Get the best people and let them do their job. I had such faith in our wonderful, visionary DP, Adeola Alao, in our bulls-eye costume designer, Nadine Haders, in our detailed sound mixer, Aidan Reynolds — let the pros be pros. My job as director is to weigh in and converse about what I need, but not to manage them.
How does your film fit within, or push the boundaries of, its form?
This piece is almost a throw-back art film. It feels like a visual poem. It is not a neat, three-act arc. It takes you on a little emotional journey and leaves you feeling warm — and it's sexy! I hope it leaves people wondering where those two people go to next in their relationship.
What does it mean to have your film selected for HollyShorts?
It's so fantastic to be at a festival so full of talent and life. It is an energy I am thrilled to pour into. I love this festival and have discovered many films as a viewer. It's pretty cool to be here with something so personal and hand-crafted.
Main Cast & Crew
- Writer/Director — Lola Glaudini: actor, director, producer, and writer known for The Sopranos, Ray Donovan, Criminal Minds, The Expanse, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., NYPD Blue, Law & Order: SVU, and Blue Bloods. A long-standing member of NY's Labyrinth Theater Company, where she first began directing.
- Producer and Lead Actor — Jimmy Jean-Louis: producer of over a dozen films, published author, frequent speaker (including a TED Talk), humanitarian, and Ambassador-at-Large to Haiti, with hundreds of hours of film and TV across five languages.
- Composer / Original Score — Meshell Ndegeocello: 12-time Grammy nominee and two-time winner of the Best Alternative Jazz Album award. Her collaboration with Lola Glaudini began in 2019. Her third Blue Note Records album, Synonym, arrives in October 2026.
- Director of Photography — Adeola Alao: raised in the South Bronx as the son of Nigerian immigrants, self-taught in photography and film, favoring quiet restraint and light over spectacle.
- Editor — Anita Chao: Senior Video Editor at Hornet, NYC, with two decades of work spanning commercial campaigns and multichannel installations shown at MoMA, the Guggenheim, and The New Museum.
- Costume Designer — Nadine Haders
- Choreographer — Raquel Horsford-Best
- Sound Mixer — Aidan Reynolds
Filmmaker Opportunities
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