A groundbreaking animation presents the chronicle of a young woman’s coming of age through the sweeping swirl of social change in Taiwan.

Chi has returned to Taipei after years living in the US to join her family in farewelling her grandmother. In her 30s, childless and with a crumbling marriage, Chi’s memory is awakened by the sites of her childhood and adolescence, taking her back through time as she reflects on the child she was, and how events brought her to live a life less fulfilling than what she once dreamed.

Reminiscent of Isao Takahata’s Only Yesterday, director Sung Hsin-yin’s masterfully ambitious narrative is drawn from her own life growing as Taiwan went through dramatic social, political and cultural shifts. On Happiness Road also triumphs as a celebration of the bravura talents of the tiny Taiwanese animation industry, proudly showcasing an inventive and achingly beautiful hand-drawn visual feast that tells a story unique to the Taiwanese experience, and never seen before in this medium.

Winner of the Tokyo Anime Festival’s Grand Prize.

"An ambitious, affecting mix of history and nostalgia … at once an affecting ode to its director’s youth, a tribute to old-school hand-drawn animation and a reflection of the sweeping social changes in Taiwan during the past three decades." – Hollywood Reporter