North American Premiere
After turning down her unfaithful fiancé at the altar, Aya (Nina Mélo) leaves the Ivory Coast and starts a dreamy new life at a gourmet tea shop in Guangzhou, China. As her employer Cai (Chang Han) teaches her the ancient art of the tea ceremony, a sensual romance brews between them. But Cai is haunted by an unrealized dream: to be reunited with his estranged daughter Eva in Cape Verde, the child of an affair he kept hidden from his ex-wife Ying (Wu Ke-Shi). Must he keep a lid on his relationship with Aya too?
This long-awaited new feature from Oscar-nominated auteur Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu) sweeps us off our feet with sleekly edited montages and sublime visual compositions. With the aesthetic flavour of Wong Kar-wai, steeped in a vibrant city nightscape of food stalls and beauty salons, the film explores the African diaspora’s search for cross-cultural harmony in China through its intriguing ensemble cast of characters. Black Tea serves up a bittersweet, metaphysical blend of unresolved dreams and desires.
Media Partner
Nina Mélo, Chang Han, Wu Ke-Xi
France/Mauritania/
Luxembourg/Taiwan/
Côte d’Ivoire
2024
In Mandarin, French, English and Portuguese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Denis Freyd, Charles S. Cohen, Jean-Luc Ormières
Screenwriter
Kessen Fatoumata Tall, Abderrahmane Sissako
Cinematography
Aymerick Pilarski
Editor
Nadia Ben Rachid
Production Design
Véronique Sacrez
Original Music
Armand Amar
Abderrahmane Sissako
Abderrahmane Sissako was born in Mauritania in 1961 and brought up in Mali. He went to the Soviet Union to attend the VGIK film school in Moscow where he made his first short films.
Filmography: Rostov-Luanda (1997); Life on Earth (1998); Waiting for Happiness (2002); Bamako (2006); Timbuktu (2014)
Photo by Chevié Link
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
La Grazia
Hot from opening the Venice Film Festival, this is a serious ethical drama from director Paolo Sorrentino and his long-serving collaborator, actor Toni Servillo, who plays a fictional Italian President wrestling with a moral dilemma.
Image: © Andrea Pirrello
A Useful Ghost
Wacky, whimsical, and always engaging, this tale about Thailand’s bloody modern history starts with a ghost in a vacuum cleaner and ends with a guerilla attack on an orgy. In between there’s romance, deadpan comedy, and subversive historical excavation.
CycleMahesh
Suhel Banerjee's documentary blends realism and reconstruction to tell the story of migrant worker Mahesh, who cycled 1,700 kilometres to return home during the COVID lockdown. A poignant look at one of India’s most significant social issues: migration.
particle dance
A poetic tribute to the artistic innovations of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. particle dance captures the humility and beauty of Kuma’s balancing act between tradition and experimentation, as he seeks to reconnect humans with their natural environment.
The Bora
The discovery of a dead body during a mountain expedition unravels a 15-year-old murder mystery linked to the victim’s friend. This sharply scripted arthouse procedural marks a sophisticated spin on the endlessly popular true crime trope.
Kokuho
Adopted by a Kabuki actor, teenaged Kikuo dedicates himself to the art form and finds a close friend and fierce rival in Shunsuke, the actor’s other son. Over the course of five decades, Kikuo and Shunsuke ascend to Japan’s grandest stages.