HAPPINESS

"Paints an evocative, memorable picture of lives in transition." – Hollywood Reporter

The work of Babies helmer Thomas Balmès, Happiness is a visually striking exploration of the clash of culture and modernity in a remote Bhutan village.

After the king of Bhutan's 1999 decree to allow television and the internet into the kingdom to boost gross national happiness, and ahead of the introduction of electricity to their village, eight-year-old monk Peyangki and his uncle embark on a three-day pilgrimage to purchase a TV. The trek and the bright city lights – not to mention the startling images from the outside world – cause Peyangki to reflect on the metaphysical question: do you expect TV to make you happy?

Winner of the World Cinema: Documentary award for cinematography at Sundance and enlivened with a score by UK indie-rockers British Sea Power, Happiness bears witness to a vanishing of a way of life.