The Tea Trail with Simon Reeve

Tales of Television Centre(en)

Various actors, presenters, directors and other staff who have worked at the iconic BBC Television Centre at Shepherd's Bush in London reminisce about their time there.

The Year Earth Changed(en)

Never-before-seen footage shows how our living in lockdown opened the door for nature to bounce back and thrive. Across the seas, skies, and lands, Earth found its rhythm when we came to a stop.

All In This Tea(en)

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.

Pori(de)

Expedition by Gontard Herbert Kluge into the heart of the former German colony of "East Africa". This land is called Pori by the locals. The film shows mainly zoological images.

Across the World with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson(en)

As if they were showing their film to a few friends in their home, the Johnsons describe their trip across the world, which begins in the South Pacific islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, the Solomons (where they seek and find cannibals), and New Hebrides. Thence on to Africa via the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, North Africa, and the Nile River to lion country in Tanganyika. (They are briefly joined in Khartum by George Eastman and Dr. Al Kayser.) Taking a safari in the Congo, the Johnsons see animals and pygmies, and travel back to Uganda, British East Africa, and Kenya.

Tea War: The Adventures of Robert Fortune(fr)

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.

Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett(en)

A special celebrating the origins and legacy of Star Wars' legendary bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

Wild Daze(en)

In Africa, poachers brutally maim and kill elephants for their ivory, much of which is exported to China or smuggled into the United States. The profits help fund terrorist organisations, and are used to buy guns and artillery. WILD DAZE takes an unflinching look at these problems from various perspectives, and shows how the slaughter has decimated the elephant population, left survivors traumatised, and seriously harmed the forests of Eastern and Southern Africa.

British Columbia: Canada's Olympic Wilderness(en)

Graham Bell and Ed Leigh journey southwards through the frozen province of British Columbia, Canada, towards the home of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. En route, they travel through remote communities cut off from civilisation through the winter, learning how the locals survive off the land. Leigh and Bell experience this harsh life for themselves alongside miners, loggers and hunters, and find out what it is like to function and work in such harsh conditions. Their journey ends with a gruelling trek on foot through the spectacular Coast Range Mountains into Whistler, one of the Olympic venues.

The World's Most Famous Train(en)

During its nine-month-long season, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express makes over 60 journeys, covering 150,000 kilometres, with the majority of trips between London and Venice. The train is comprised of 17 unique 1920s carriages that have transported a host of elite individuals across Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey for more than a century. This documentary follows the stories of the staff and passengers as the train makes its way across Europe, with some customers having paid more than £2,000 for the privilege.

Solar Anus(en)

Based off a homophobic Bataille essay — L’Anus Solaire (1931) — which draws the erect penis as the sun, and the anus as the nighttime, attracted to each other but unable to exist together, Ron Athey’s performance work aims to queer Bataille’s theory. After pinning his face and head into a crown, Athey proceeds to fuck himself with a dildo attached to a pair of high heels, eventually releasing a string of pearls from his anus.

The District Nurse(en)

The diary of a typical non-stop working day of a wartime district nurse.

Gardens of the Orient(en)

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.

Barefoot Empress(en)

A 96-year-old woman in a Kerala village pursues her lifelong dream of getting an education. Having never gone to school, she must start at the beginning...first grade.

A Cara De Perro Zoo – La Pelicula(es)

Documentary about freestyle competition and hip-hop culture in Argentina.

Thé mania(fr)

The Gordon Affair(en)

As a small liberal arts college on the North Shore, Gordon College has not been without its issues. Budget cuts in 2019 resulted in the downsizing of several departments which impacted students' college career. In 2020 during the heat of the pandemic, racial tensions rise after hate crimes are committed on campus. This is the story of the class of 2022.

The Virus That Shook the World(en)

The epic story of how people around the world lived through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, from lockdowns to funerals to protests. Filming across the globe and using extensive personal video and local footage, FRONTLINE documented how people and countries responded to COVID-19 across cultures, races, faiths and privilege.

At The Helm | The Making of Lotawana(en)

This hilarious, behind-the-scenes adventure shows the unforgettable, year-long production that Trevor Hawkins and his skeleton-crew of endearing renegades went through to bring their gritty film, Lotawana, to life.

Ancient Alien Origins(en)

Researchers discover that Aliens from another world assisted in the evolution of man and were the genesis of a very real bloodline that remains intact today. The Aliens left Earth millennia ago, but the signs are growing daily.