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.
Social & External
The people behind it
Simon Reeve
Self (Presenter)
Documented in television documentaries for over 40 years by the BBC and other broadcasters around the world, the Marsh Pride is the most filmed pride of lions on Earth. In this film, the Marsh Pride battle for survival in Kenya's famous Maasai Mara Reserve, which has become a magnet for tourists, many of them keen to see the pride for themselves. A tale of shifting loyalties, bloody takeovers and sheer resilience, the lions’ story is told by those who filmed them, tried to protect them and lived alongside them, as well as some who ultimately wanted them dead.
Take a thrilling journey to four of the greatest national treasures of Europe and Africa. Walk along the misty shores of Ireland's rocky northern coast to experience the legendary Giant's Causeway. Search for elusive mountain gorillas in Uganda's lush Impenetrable Forest. Climb the stunning snow-capped peaks of Italy's timeless Alps to discover the regal ibex in Gran Paradiso National Park. Behold the spectacle of thundering herds of migrating wildebeest, zebra and gazelle on Africa's fabled Serengeti Plains.
See the great migration as never before! The Mara River, nature’s best laid trap for migratory animals, is the stage for a grandiose spectacle. When food supply in the Serengeti dwindles, the Masai Mara is a paradise for predators. As the black wildebeests, gazelles, zebras and antelopes make their yearly trip from the south of the Serengeti to the north, nature’s best laid trap, the Mara River in Kenya is waiting ahead. Captivating shots filmed under water show how crocodiles prepare for the Big Hunt while other predators lurk on the banks awaiting their bounty.
Uganda has one the youngest populations in the world and one of its most flagrantly anti-democratic governments. These are ingredients for revolution, and Bobi Wine and his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi are stirring the pot. When the charismatic Bobi, a musician and member of parliament, announces his campaign for president, Uganda’s youth are ecstatic, filling parks and streets for every speech, and singing Bobi’s anthems of peace and freedom. But then comes the crackdown, orchestrated by Yoweri Museveni, a brutal dictator who has ruled Uganda for 36 years. Bobi and his crew survive arrests, beatings, torture, riots and raids.
This is the unusual portrait of two hunters - the cheetah and the hyena. It is a dramatic story built around the competition for prey and territory and the fight for survival.
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.
When his family tries to kill him, Sidney, who is intersex, flees to Nairobi where he meets a group of transgender friends. Together, they fight discrimination and discover life, love and self-worth.
Coffee Hunting: Kenya follows Aaron Blanco, owner and green coffee buyer for the Brown Coffee Company, as he travels over 9,000 miles to Kenya in search of a new coffee to bring back for roasting and brewing at his stores in the U.S.
Introduced by esteemed conservationist Jane Goodall and narrated by National Geographic's Bill Jones, this documentary focuses on what humanity has in common with other species. Wildlife photographer Todd Gustafson captures stories of competition, courtship, family, hunting and flight to illustrate the hidden life of East African birds.
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.
In Uganda, a new sport is driving social change. The sport is quidditch.
A documentary about people in Kenya who are imprisoned by the global flower industry. The dilemmas of the industry become painfully clear and a dark world of oppression, sexual abuse and terrible working conditions unfolds. There is only one conclusion possible: the smell of the imported rose is not sweet, but bitter.
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…
This documentary provides a window into the extraordinary life of activist and Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who has worked to regain ownership of her country and its fate after years of colonialism. While gentle and thoughtful, Maathai carries a powerful message: the First World holds much of the responsibility for the environmental, economic and social struggles of the developing world.
A look at the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s as experienced by filmmaker Donald McWilliams.
MIEZI KUMI (TEN MONTHS) is a short documentary of the love between Zacharia Mutai, his family and the last two northern white rhinos, which he has to take care of for ten months in a year.
Honey at the Top is a film about the Sengwer forest people of the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, being evicted from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. The film centres around father of two Elias as he works with his community to try and hold onto their culture and resist the evictions. It is an intimate portrait of this community at a crossroads, facing international pressure from organisations like the World Bank, a corrupt Kenya Forest Service who are burning their houses and attempts to turn the forest into a commodity through carbon offsetting schemes.
In the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Kenya, there is an island. On this island there is a stone town; its stone buildings stand as skeletons of the splendor of its yesteryears. High tide, low tide, Full moon, new moon. Lamu is an island frozen in time. Now Africa’s largest port is being constructed. In order to evolve, what part of ourselves do we keep and what part do we leave behind?
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Long-lost footage from Elvis Presley's legendary Las Vegas residency in the 1970s woven together with rare 16mm footage from Elvis on Tour, and 8mm from the Graceland archive, plus recordings of Elvis telling "his side of the story" rediscovered during Baz Luhrmann's research for his 2022 film, Elvis.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
A cinematic odyssey featuring never-before-seen footage exploring David Bowie's creative and musical journey.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
