Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #43. Abderrahmane Sissako’s La Colline Parfumee

The Perfumed Hill

A project that has been gestating perhaps not that long after the release of Timbuktu (2014), Mauritanian-born Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako was indeed stranded on the tarmac for a bit but La Colline Parfumee finally did get taxied out with filming taking place in both Africa and Taiwan for a drama romance set between China’s tea hills, the Ivory Coast and Cape Verde. Production began before September of last year with the likes of Nina Melo, Han Chang, and Ke-Xi Wu. Sissako mentioned that he was inspired to tell this story after discovering in 2005 a restaurant called La Colline Parfumée that was run by an Afro-Chinese couple.

Gist: This follows the journey of Joice, who leaves the Ivory Coast to start a new life in Guangzhou, China, after saying “no” on her wedding day. She finds a job at a tea boutique owned by Cai, a Chinese man, in the vibrant region of Guangzhou, known as the “Chocolate City.” In the secrecy of the back shop, Cai decides to initiate Joice to the tea ceremony and through the teaching of this ancient art, their relationship slowly turns into tender and passionate love.

Release Date/Prediction: Conventional thinking is this is headed to Cannes, but we’re putting our money on Venice Golden Lion comp.