🎬 Tender is the Moon: Mid-Autumn gathering, tea tasting and short film program
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important celebrations in Chinese culture and across several other East and Southeast Asian cultures. Traditionally a time for gathering under the full moon, it celebrates family reunion, connection and togetherness. We are bringing the spirit of the festival to Amsterdam through an intimate gathering of tea, traditional treats and cinema. We hope to create a safe and welcoming space to appreciate and celebrate Chinese culture, for those who are far from home, as well as those who want to discover, share and appreciate it.
The evening is divided into 2 independent parts: a tea tasting and a film screening. Guests are welcome to join either one or both, depending on how they would like to experience the evening. More details about each part can be found below.
------TEA TASTING------
The evening begins with a Chinese style tea tasting, prepared using the methods of Gongfu Cha, sometimes referred to as a Chinese tea ceremony. The tea will be served slowly in small cups, with repeated infusions allowing us to experience how its aromas and flavours develop and change with each infusion.
Our host will guide us through 3 teas from 3 different Amsterdam based tea vendors:
Comforting, roasted Dong Ding Oolong
凍頂烏龍, Taiwan, by YumCha
Sweet, aromatic Jin Jun Mei red tea
金骏眉, Wuyi Shan, China, by Amsterdam Teas
Sweet, delicate Moonlight White
月光白, Yunnan, China, by Cha Moods
During the final part of the tasting, we will accompany our favourite tea with a traditional mooncake, specially prepared for the Mid-Autumn Festival by the amazing people at Hoi Tin, one of Amsterdam’s oldest Cantonese family restaurants, bringing another part of Chinese food culture to our table.
Whether you are already a tea enthusiast or have never taken part in a tea tasting before, this is an open space for anyone curious to learn, taste, and enjoy good tea in good company.
Please note: the tea tasting is limited to 20 guests.
Tickets for the tea tasting + screening can be purchased in advance HERE.
------SHORT FILM PROGRAM------
The program brings together 6 short films across different formats and sensibilities. Some unfold through a more poetic language, while others possess a striking rawness and immediacy. Though distinct in form and voice, each film carries its own particular essence, connected by a subtle thread of nostalgia, a feeling we feel resonated especially well with the spirit of this gathering.
All films will be screened with English subtitles.
Tickets for the film screening will be available at the door only.
茂谷甜橙 Honey Murcott
Friend Chen | 2024 | 4’
Walking down an autumn-strewn street, a man catches a whiff of oranges, recalling the first one he tasted years before.
在水一方 Across the Waters
Viv Li | 2024 | 15’
Sandstorm blows, waters scarce. In a remote mining town without any radio signals, a quirky teenage girl gets curious about a passing truck driver.
磊山碾信 Lá Shān Niǎn Xìn
Wenfei Zhao | 2026 | 25’
Lá Shān and Niǎn Xìn are the names of two neighbouring villages, their boundaries made more distinct by the arrival of the highway. At night, the highway becomes another kind of space. Ghosts wander along the road, crossing the boundaries between villages, with nowhere to go. Longing travels along this road, too.
杨玉枝，农民，工人，家庭主妇 Yang Yuzhi, a Farmer, a Worker, a Housewife
Tie Yan | 2026 | 4’
This experimental animated poem pays tribute to the director’s grandmother, piecing together her life through delirious words from her illness. Its title encapsulates her lifelong identities—farmer, worker, housewife—each defined by unremitting labor and self-sacrifice.
南方少女 She Runs
Qiu Yang | 2019 | 20’
In an ordinary Chinese winter, a small city junior high student, Yu, tries to quit her school aerobic dancing team.
送还 The Returned and the Blessed
Shizhao Lin | 2023 | 10’
In southern China, two children find an abandoned, wood-carved Earth God statue after the demolition of their village. They carry it a long way, hoping to return it to a temple, only to discover that no one wants it and that it is worth no more than a can of Coke.
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Full Program
17:00 Doors open
17:30-18:30 Tea tasting
18:30-19:00 Mooncake sharing and mingling
19:00-20:30 Short film screening
