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IN SHORT
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From Normandy to the four corners of the globe, the saga of Tea Travel tells how a gaze born in the Bocage Ornais managed to transform the ritual of tea into a sensory and poetic journey. Led by Julien, born in the United States and raised in Flers, this short film blends documentary and fiction, inner walking and exploration of the world, from the alleyways of Hong Kong to the lights of Paris, from the fjords of Scandinavia to the squares of Valencia. Inspired by the unique tea master recognized worldwide and nourished by claimed Norman roots, the film has already captivated several international festivals, from Croatia to Washington.
The Norman Escape
Normandy here is not a backdrop but a source of breath. In Flers, where Julien arrives as a child, the bocage horizon, the changing landscapes, and the dull light of after-rains forge a keen sense of image and patience. In this region with discreet relief, every bank, every hedge becomes a line of narrative. Daily gestures transform into poetic material, as if one learns to observe the world through successive infusions, like tea that slowly releases its aromas.
Roots of the Bocage, Creative Breath
The filmmaker claims a visceral attachment to the Bocage Ornais and its villages, from Flers to Chanu, where Marion, his screen partner, is from. These anchors are not a fixed past: they irrigate his frames, rhythms, and relationship with silence. In Tea Travel, one perceives the modesty of the fields and the stubbornness of the wind as an intimate grammar guiding the narrative, even when the shot unfolds thousands of kilometers away.
Norman Stops that Open Horizons
For those who wish to experience this feeling of Norman escape, the archipelago of Chausey Islands, in Manche, offers a mineral theater where the sea rewrites the map of emotions several times a day. Amid tides, granite, and silence, one finds this art of contemplation that courses through the film. This same taste for long breaths can be experienced in a wellness interlude, a praise of regained time, in a Guerlain-inspired spa getaway, where one aligns body and spirit like one adjusts the temperature of a teapot.
A Journey in Tea
The founding encounter, the one that gives flavor to the story, is with a tea master whose singularity shines internationally. In her presence, Julien imagines a ceremonial film, a slow gesture that marries documentary and fiction to convey the precision of the ritual, the attention given to water, to time, to gesture. Tea becomes a metaphor for exploration: to infuse is to learn to listen to the world, to let the places and faces speak, to welcome the variations of light.
The Ceremony of the World
In Tea Travel, every cup is an intimate shot, every steam a fragment of memory. The cities traversed are not consumed but inhabited: textures are caressed, whispers collected. This sensory refinement resonates in other ways of living, when itinerancy is combined with gentleness: a stop at a characterful house, a soothing treatment, a table celebrating the season. For those seeking a muted interlude to prolong this tactile relationship with the world, experiences of escape designed for seniors remind us that there are journeys to be savored at the pace of breath.
From Hong Kong to Valencia, the Map of Infusions
The images slide from Hong Kong to Scandinavia, along the quays of Paris, and settle in Valencia. The project takes off when the pandemic reshuffles the landmarks: heading towards Spain, where the filmmaker refines his visual writing, between urban walks and silent interiors. Alongside Marion, originally from Chanu, he composes shots where the delicacy of a gaze is worth all geographies. Distances become infusion temperatures: the longer they are, the more they reveal unexpected flavors.
Who Enchants the World
Presented from Croatia to Washington, praised in several international festivals, Tea Travel resonates because it embraces its humility. It is a film that does not claim flashy exoticism; it prefers nuances, thresholds, gestures. This Norman breath, which learns to see before showing, makes the intimate resonate from afar. The praise of gentle movement, of attention to the living, aligns with new ways of traversing the world: the idea of exploring on an electric car along slower routes, for example, or celebrating the plurality of gazes that travel, like black travelers on their way to the Caribbean, renewing the imagination of crossings.
Resonances and Paths Beyond
Beyond the laurels, the film opens a sensitive map. We learn that escape begins at home, in a garden in Normandy, before spreading out into constellations. Whether it extends to the shifting shores of Chausey Islands, in the warm water of a wellness stop, through a gentle interlude designed for seniors, or along an electric journey, this art of travel summarizes to a few essentials: a well-adjusted time, an available gaze, water at the right warmth, and the invitation, always, to listen to the world with the patience of a teapot.
