Agent of Happiness
Sundance Film Festival
•
Documentary
How is happiness measured? Can satisfaction with one’s life be rated on a scale from one to ten? The Kingdom of Bhutan’s famous – and highly exoticized – government policy measuring its nation’s Gross National Happiness operates on the idea that the basic tenets of fulfillment can and should be quantified when calculating their nation’s development. Happiness Agent Amber Gurung embarks throughout the Himalayan mountains to survey the contentment of citizens from different households and lifestyles. While Amber dutifully administers this census, he too is forced to confront his own struggles with fulfillment, and question what makes him happy.
A “quiet, gently absorbing documentary” (The Guardian) AGENT OF HAPPINESS is a holistic exploration of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index, using “meaningful visual contrast to scrutinize Bhutan’s narrative about itself,” (Variety). Filmmakers Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó carefully craft a visually stunning, tender narrative around the age-old quest to find the purpose of life.
DIRECTED BY ARUN BHATTARAI & DOROTTYA ZURBÓ
BHUTAN & HUNGARY | 2024 | NEPALI, DZONGKHA & ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
Up Next in Sundance Film Festival
-
Twice Colonized
Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has led a lifelong fight for the rights of her people. A member of a historically marginalized and oppressed community, Aaju’s heritage puts her in the unique position of someone who has been “twice colonized” – first by European settlers who arrived in the Arctic...
-
Loveling
Irene lives in a crumbling house on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro with her husband and four sons. Fernando, her eldest boy, is a local handball star, and when he’s scouted to play professionally in Germany, the family has only a few weeks to say goodbye. While his leaving comes as a shock, it a...
-
Pity
After his wife miraculously emerges from a long coma, a middle-aged lawyer becomes distressed when all the sadness and sorrow surrounding him vanishes. To feed his strange addiction, he concocts increasingly elaborate ways to try to regain the pity that he so desperately craves.
The award-winnin...
