Documentary ‘Agent of Happiness’ Trailer About Bhutan’s Happiness
by Alex Billington
June 18, 2024
Source: YouTube
“Happiness should come from the heart.” Dogwoof has revealed the first official trailer for a documentary film called Agent of Happiness, which originally premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also just played at the Sheffield DocFest 2024, and will open in UK cinemas this July. Though it still has no US date confirmed yet. “How can you measure happiness?” The country of Bhutan š§š¹ invented Gross National Happiness to do just that, and Amber is one of the agents who travels door to door to meet people and measure how happy they really are. He is still living with his elderly mother at the age of 40, but is nevertheless a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding love: a happiness agent who is in search of his own happiness. We embark with Amber on a cross-country road trip meeting citizens from all walks of life, reminding us of the fragility and beauty of our own happiness. No matter where we live. This is a rather humble & poetic doc taking us inside the lives of Bhutanese people and their country’s search for prosperity.
Here’s the official UK trailer (+ poster) for ZurbĆ³ & Bhattarai’s doc Agent of Happiness, from YouTube:
Intro from Sundance: “Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure peopleās happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way? Agent of Happiness offers a unique take on the notoriously exoticized Bhutan and its unusual happiness policy. We follow Amber as he investigates various expressions of contentment across different households and lifestyles while navigating his own struggle as a Nepali minority. The holistic philosophy at the heart of the survey he conducts challenges the conventional metrics of fulfillment and success, often provoking some deeper soul-searching. The filmmakers elegantly capture many tender moments between Amber and his interlocutors, as well as some very revealing conversations filled with unflinching honesty & quiet wisdom.”
Agent of Happiness is co-directed by filmmakers Arun Bhattarai (director of Dreams of Birds Flying in the Sky) and Dorottya ZurbĆ³ (director of Easy Lessons), both of whom also co-directed the doc film The Next Guardian before this. Produced by NoĆ©mi Veronika Szakonyi, MĆ”tĆ© Artur Vincze, Arun Bhattarai. This initially premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Dogwoof opens Agent of Happiness in UK cinemas starting on July 12th, 2024 this summer. No US release date is set – stay tuned for updates.
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