movies: Agent of Happiness
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| title | country | year | length | director | url | blurb | virtual_screening | programmer_blurb | trailer_url | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agent of Happiness | Bhutan | 2024 | 93 | Dorottya Zurbó, Arun Bhattarai | https://www.siff.net/festival/agent-of-happiness | Amber is a government employee tasked with conducting “happiness scale” surveys in the remote Himalayas. As he investigates and chronicles the diversity of lived experiences, he learns that he, too, is searching for his own place in the world. | 1 | "How happy and satisfied are you with your life, on a scale from zero to 10?" This is the question that Amber Gurung—and other “happiness agents” like him—ask their compatriots in the small mountainous country of Bhutan. As government worker Gurung goes door-to-door, administering the Gross National Happiness index, each encounter unveils a unique narrative. A new calf for milking raises the index score for one woman; caring for drunk volatile parents lowers another’s. A wealthy man declares his home life is “10 out of 10” as his three wives sit by; on their own, they paint a different picture. In Agent of Happiness, co-directors Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó employ a curatorial lens, offering a mosaic of profiles that reveal the complex fabric of Bhutanese lived experiences. At its heart lies Gurung's own story, contemplating his own contentment as he surveys others about theirs. Through his narrative arc, the film captures the elusive nature of happiness, even for its most dedicated agents.—SuJ’n Chon | Nepali, Dzongkha, English |