WORK IN PROGRESS

THE TEA FILM (working title)

USA, 2006, 65 min.

Director: Les Blank, Gina Leibrecht
Producer: Les Blank
Cinematography: Les Blank; Gina Leibrecht; Tom Valens
Editing: Gina Leibrecht
Music: Michael Santoro
Production company: Flower Films
Print Source:
Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Ave.
El Cerrito CA 94530
USA
Tel.: 1 510 5250942
Fax: 1 510 5251204
e-mail: blankfilm@aol.com
www.lesblank.com



The Tea Film (working title)

When there aren’t any roads world-renowned American tea importer, David Lee Hoffman, will travel on foot to some of the most remote regions of China in search of the finest handmade teas in the world. Although he wants to put Chinese teas on the global market, he is also a champion of their uniqueness, tradition and production methods. Whenever he comes across a new tea variety, his enthusiasm in contagious: I’m just a sucker to tea, he tells us. Not since Robert Fortune clandestinely made his way through 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 finest cultural gems--the artistry and exquisite taste of fine, handmade tea.

Les Blank
Born in 1935 in Tampa, Florida, Les Blank attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where he received a B.A. in English literature and an M.F.A. in theatre. In 1967, after two years in the Ph.D. film program at the University of Southern California, and five years of freelancing in Los Angeles, he began his first independent films, on Texas blues singer Lightnin' Hopkins (The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins) amd newly forming culture known as flower children (God Respect Us When We Wokr, But Loves Us When We Dance). Betwen 1973 and 1994 Blank toured extensively with sponsorship of the United States Information Agency, screening and discussing his films worldwide. Recipient of numerous prestigious awards including Golden Gate, Golden Hugo and the British Academy Award. In 1990, Les Blank received the American Film Institute's Maya Deren Award for outstanding Lifetime achievement as an independent filmmaker.

Filmography (selected):

The Tea Film (2006)
Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella (1995)
The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists (1995)
Hole in the Soul (1995)
My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1994)
Puamana (1991)
Burden Of Dreams (1982)
In Heaven There is No Bear (1982)
Garlic Is As Good As Good Mothers (1980)
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1979)
Hulas Fronteras (1976)

Gina Leibrecht
Gina Leibrecht received her B.A. in Telecommunications and Film from the University of Oregon in 1989. Editor, director. In 1998 she began collaborating with the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Les Blank, on several projects.

Filmography (as a director):

The Tea Film (2006)

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