10 of the Best Coffee Movies for Coffee Lovers

Today coffee is an integral part of culture and art. In many films and TV shows, it plays a significant role, whether it is the scenery, symbolism, or motive for the plot.

 

I have collected great movies about coffee, which every coffee lover will enjoy.

 

Let’s start with feature films whose atmosphere is saturated with the nutty aroma.

 

 

Coffee Movies

 

 

Coffee and Cigarettes, 2003

 

Life is very leisurely if you are sitting in a small cafe with a cigarette and a cup of coffee and, occasionally, dispersing clouds of smoke, lazily exchanging a few words with your old acquaintance.

 

Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch is literally soaked in caffeine. In this film consisting of 11 short stories, the characters constantly drink a lot of coffee and talk about everything and nothing simultaneously.

 

Gently and tactfully, this film imperceptibly enters your consciousness and seizes it. You become a participant in this fascinating conversation.

 

 

Friends, 1994-2004

 

Although technically not a movie, in Friends, coffee is not just a drink but a symbol that brings the heroes together daily at Central Perk. They discussed the news, celebrated important events, met and parted, laughed, and quarreled there.

 

A man named Keith Lovelace counted the cups of coffee each character drank and this is what he got: The Fabulous Six drank 1,154 cups of coffee in 10 seasons, and Phoebe was the leading coffee drinker.

 

It was important for the creators of Friends to show the habits and tastes of New Yorkers in the mid-1990s. It is believed that the series even introduced the fashion for coffee shops and decaffeinated coffee, which Rachel and Monica ordered.

 

 

Coffee Town, 2013

 

Like the heroes of the aforementioned Friends, the characters in this picture spend almost all their free time in a local cafe. They get to know each other, chat, and even use the place as their office with free Wi-Fi and delicious drinks.

 

However, soon the owners of the coffee house decide to close the shop and create an elite bar instead of a cozy establishment. But, the film’s heroes are not ready to put up with the changes. They will take all possible measures to keep the coffee shop in its original appearance.

 

I think Coffee Town is a great comedy for a fun coffee movie night. 

 

 

Out of Africa, 1985

 

Out of Africa is a picturesque drama with Meryl Streep and a film adaptation of Karen Blixen’s autobiographical novel. The heroine goes to Kenya, where she starts growing a coffee plantation.

 

Together with the film’s characters, you will see all the beauties of the dangerous but, at the same time, charming Africa and learn about the difficulties that accompany Blixen during the coffee production.

 

This film won 7 Oscars for a good reason – beautiful landscapes, well-chosen music, and flowing like a trickle plot. 

 

You are slowly but surely being sucked in by the cycle of an era on the verge of great change. It is an incredible film about love, coffee, and a strong woman.

 

 

White Material, 2009

 

Another great coffee movie, White Material is about a coffee plantation in an unnamed African country torn apart by uprisings. Marie, a white French woman, puts herself in danger by refusing to leave her coffee holdings and return with her son to France. But, her ex-husband Andre has his plans.

 

Marie is hard at work looking for new workers for her coffee plantation to replace those who refuse to work. She constantly travels around the country, risking her life every minute in this chaos. 

 

But, the rebels’ leader is hiding in her house. Her son shaved his head and took the revolutionaries’ side yet the insurgents themselves do not always know what they want. And in this madness, she is “white material.”

 

At times, the film resembles a coffee documentary report from the scene. Everything is shown very authentically.

 

 

Café Express, 1980

 

In this charming Italian comedy, Michele Abbagnano is a poor but very resourceful man. He illegally sells coffee on trains to earn money for his son’s treatment. 

 

In addition, the hero provides other services to his clients: he wakes up those who are sleeping at the right stations, tells entertaining but sometimes not very true stories about his life, and protects people from crooks who rob passengers.

 

Director Nanni Loy offered a story that mixed truth and fiction, humor and sadness, doom, and lust for life. Nino Manfredi performed one of the best roles in his prosperous acting career. 

 

But, most importantly, is the atmosphere of the train in which Michele’s working days pass and where a big picture of life is formed from tiny fragments of different colors.

 

 

 

Coffee Documentaries

 

The Coffee Man, 2016

 

Many films about the barista exist, but my favorite is The Coffee Man. This coffee documentary is about 2015 World Barista Championship winner Sasa Sestic from Ona Coffee in Melbourne, Australia, and his difficult path to the championship.

 

Sestic emigrated from Bosnia to Australia in 1997 and played for the Australian Olympic handball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After finishing his career in sports, Sestic turned his attention to the production of coffee. His first step in the coffee industry was roasting coffee in a friend’s garage. 

 

In 2015, Sestic won the World Barista Championship with Sudan Rume Arabica, processed using the carbon dioxide maceration method widely used in winemaking. 

 

Filming occurred in Ethiopia, Honduras, Colombia, Seattle, Melbourne, and Canberra.

 

The film makes you think that behind all the sensations of the taste of coffee in a cup, there is extensive work and passion of people who have connected their lives with it.

 

If you want to watch more inspirational films like this, check out this list of 12 movies about life purpose based on a true story. 

 

 

A Film About Coffee, 2014

 

A declaration of love for coffee. In this coffee documentary, you will journey worldwide, from farms in Honduras and Rwanda to coffee houses in Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York. 

 

Through the eyes of farmers and baristas, you see all the processes, technologies, and old and new traditions that combine to create the best cups of coffee.

 

70 hours of filming, 25 locations, and 34 interviews – all together, in a beautiful, inspiring, and educational story about specialty coffee. 

 

From this coffee documentary, you will understand the difference between the cost of a cup of coffee for 99 cents and $4.99.

 

This picture is made by coffee enthusiasts about coffee enthusiasts and with the help of coffee enthusiasts.

 

 

 

 

Black Gold, 2006

 

A movie about the dark side of your favorite drink—a tough but essential film.

 

People drink over two billion cups of coffee daily, but many bean farmers need help to make a living.

 

The film’s director tells the story of businessman Tadesse Meskelas as he tries to secure fair prices for 70,000 Ethiopian coffee growers.

 

All the issues raised in the film are still relevant in different coffee-producing countries. A documentary study of the global coffee industry will make you look at the usual cup of latte in a new way.

 

 

Shade Grown Coffee, 2020

 

The filmmakers of Shade Grown Coffee travel from Copenhagen to Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Jamaica and then move to the supposed homeland of coffee, Ethiopia. They want to see with their own eyes how “shadow” coffee grows.

 

This coffee variety ripens in its natural environment, in the shade of trees. Of course, coffee “from the shadows” has a more complex taste. But, the main thing is that ecosystems are not destroyed for their sake, which allows hundreds of species of plants and living beings to be preserved.

 

I hope you loved this list of coffee movies. Watch one of them this weekend over a cup of java.