Agent of Happiness(HKAFF2024)

Can you measure human happiness with numbers? That question, among others material and metaphysical, is explored in this remarkable documentary about the people of Bhutan, the reputed “happiest country on Earth”. The film follows public servants Amber and Guna as they visit Bhutan’s residents while quizzing them about their daily lives. The people they meet are diverse, ranging from rural farm workers to an urban transgender woman, and happiness seems elusive and illusory for some. Yet each person - and even Amber and Guna - must finally be assigned a numerical score that contributes to Bhutan’s constitutionally-mandated and potentially out-of-touch Gross National Happiness Index. Both intimate and ironic, this rich documentary offers a unique cultural perspective on the human experience.

Best Documentary Feature Audience Award, San Francisco International Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
CPH:DOX