Tea Company of the NILS in Pematang Siantar

With Malays in Sumatra

A travel documentary following writer Sigfrid Siwertz and photographer Gustaf Boge's trip to Sumatra.

Thé mania

Tea

Director Scheffer registered a performance of the Tea Opera by Chinese composer Tan Dun (who won an Oscar in 2001 with his score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Scheffer interlaces the images with interviews with Dun, stage director Pierre Audi and librettist Xu Ying, about the opera and the role tea and oriental philosophy play in this work. Using monochrome, sometimes abstract images (in yellow, blue, red and green), close-ups of plants and flowers and images of the Chinese nature and people (sometimes accelerated or decelerated, sometimes in black-and-white), he mirrors the stylised opera performance and Dun's reflective music.

Sumatran Folk Cinema

This film is a collection of musical performances, folk images, TV excerpts and audio/visual artifacts from the heart and soul of Sumatra.

Secret Lives of Orangutans

Follow a multi-generational orangutan family through their treetop triumphs and travails in this immersive documentary narrated by David Attenborough.

Look at Life: Everything Stops for Tea

A short documentary about the tea drinking culture in the UK and the industry behind it.

Gardens of the Orient

This portait of life on the tea plantations is decidedly rosy – clearly, there are no exploited workers here. However, the film provides an intriguing overview of tea production – from the planting of tea seeds to the final shipping of the precious leaves across the globe.

Tea War: The Adventures of Robert Fortune

In the 19th century, China held the monopoly on tea, which was dear and fashionable in the West, and the British Empire exchanged poppies, produced in its Indian colonies and transformed into opium, for Chinese tea. Inundated by the drugs, China was forced to open up its market, and the British consolidated their commercial dominance. In 1839, the Middle Empire introduced prohibition. The Opium War was declared… Great Britain emerged as the winner, but the warning was heeded: it could no longer depend on Chinese tea. The only alternative possible was to produce its own tea. The East India Company therefore entrusted one man with finding the secrets of the precious beverage. His mission was to develop the first plantations in Britain’s Indian colonies. This latter-day James Bond was called Robert Fortune – a botanist. After overcoming innumerable ordeals in the heart of imperial China, he brought back the plants and techniques that gave rise to Darjeeling tea.

Tea Making Tips

Tea drinkers will benefit from 6 tips for making tea, as well as other handy hints.

The Tea Explorer

The Tea Explorer documentary follows the journey of tea enthusiast Jeff Fuchs along the Tea Horse Road, a 1300-year-old trade route in the Himalayas. It combines the author's passion for both tea and mountains, tracing the route's history, meeting the people who live along it, and exploring the significance of tea in the region.

Frontier Sumatra

With 30 football fields of forest lost each minute in the world, we need to know now if we can save nature. This is the story of one conservation project, Restorasi Ekosistem Riau (RER). After decades of land-clearing and burning across Sumatra, the remote Kampar Peninsula is now the last great peatland rainforest on the island. But protecting this vast ecosystem pushes the RER team to the limits

Infusion

In Acadie, the only “real” tea is King Cole, blended in New Brunswick for the past 100 years. Traditionally drunk with a spot of Carnation condensed milk, it recalls simpler days when people would take the time to stop and smell… the tea. Infusion is a playful look at this tradition, its many symbols, and the memories it stirs. Some say a cup of tea promotes frank discussion and helps clear up misunderstandings; others swear they can read the future in the leaves left at the bottom. Perhaps there really is something magical about tea…

All In This Tea

During the 1990s, David Lee Hoffman searched throughout China for the finest teas. He's a California importer who, as a youth, lived in Asia for years and took tea with the Dali Lama. Hoffman's mission is to find and bring to the U.S. the best hand picked and hand processed tea. This search takes him directly to farms and engages him with Chinese scientists, business people, and government officials: Hoffman wants tea grown organically without a factory, high-yield mentality. By 2004, Hoffman has seen success: there are farmer's collectives selling tea, ways to export "boutique tea" from China, and a growing Chinese appreciation for organic farming's best friend, the earthworm.

Miraculous Leaf

Through the six major categories of Chinese tea, the film traces the historical origins of famous tea-producing regions and explores the lives of generations who have lived with and for tea. It celebrates craftsmanship, explores lesser-known tea-making techniques, and honors the wisdom, dedication, and philosophy of Chinese tea artisans — revealing a deep respect for nature and an unwavering commitment to cultural heritage.

The Tea Trail with Simon Reeve

Adventurer and journalist Simon Reeve heads to Kenya and Uganda to uncover the stories behind Britain's favourite drink, meeting the people who pick, pack and transport tea.

Nicobar Islands: A Monkey's Long Tale

Bessho Tea Factory

A documentary directed by Hori Teiichi who was a production assistant on the 1994 documentary Otentousama ga Hoshii and has worked in a wide variety of genres from pink films to ordinary theatrical releases. The lifestyle and scenery of Osawa, a village situated 740 meters up on the mountainous slopes of Hamamatsu city's northern region in Shizuoka Prefecture, are the focus of this first installment to the "Tenryu-ku" series. It straightforwardly captures the tea harvest in late May and the tea processing conducted in a factory while showcasing mist shrouded tea fields drummed by rain as well as the beauty of the glistening green of the tea leaf shoots.

Save the Sumatran Forest

Chris Packham: In Search of the Lost Girl

In 1998, Chris Packham met a hunter-gatherer tribe in remote Sumatra. 20 years later, he goes in search of the same tribe to search for the girl whose photograph he took.

Living Photograph: Chris with Teacup

The original Living Photograph on YouTube. Starring Chris, a teacup, a red lamp and a tasteful, yet mildly uninspired window treatment.