SFF2010 - All in this Tea (USA, 2006, 70 mins.)

Flower Films presents All In This Tea, a feature documentary by directors Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht that follows the world-renowned American tea importer, David Lee Hoffman, to some of the most remote regions of China in search of the finest handmade teas in the world. Not since Robert Fortune clandestinely made his waythrough the tea growing districts of China in 1843 to steal plants and seeds for the British Empire has a westerner attempted to gain access to the hidden world of tea, where farmers have been making it for generations. As the Chinese open their doors to the global marketplace, Hoffman opens their eyes to their own ancient tradition that links them, and all of us, to the distant past, while introducing the west to one of China's cultural gems — the artistry and exquisite taste of fine, handmade tea. "This film is a labour of love by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht and is a gentle poetic film about one man's passion for tea." (Alex Lee, DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival)