Black Tea is the first feature in a decade from Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, whose powerful drama Timbuktu had won several César (French Oscar) awards and was nominated for the 2014 best foreign-language film Oscar.

The story follows Aya (Nina Mélo), an African bride who dumps her groom at the wedding and flees to China. While there, she works in a tea shop and winds up having an affair with her seductive boss, Cai (Chang Han).

His films exist between the realms of reality and parable, between contemporary chronicles and mythic folktales.