Agent of Happiness
Arun Bhattarai & Dorottya Zurbó / Bhutan & Hungary / 2024 / 94 min
How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10? Two government officials are sent out to measure the happiness of the people of Bhutan, but how are they doing themselves? A bittersweet, existential crowd favourite from the Himalayas.
Up in the Himalayas, sandwiched between China and Northern India, live the happiest people in the world. In Bhutan, 93.6 per cent of the population is happy, if you ask the country’s government. But how do you measure happiness? In the Buddhist kingdom, they send officials out to knock on doors with a questionnaire. How much rice do you have in stock? Do you have many friends? And how is your sleep rhythm? Each question is answered on a scale of 1 to 10. ‘Agent of Happiness’ invites us on a road trip through Bhutan’s remote mountain villages with two friendly officials in Gho robes, travelling to interview a diverse cross-section of the country’s citizens. They meet a trans woman and an aging man with three wives and eleven children, who turns out to be somewhat happier than the rest of the family. But how are the two bureaucrats themselves? An warm and witty insight into a country where happiness is (also) measured in white goods and pets. And it’s one of the only films from and about Bhutan – ever.