How is happiness measured? Can satisfaction with one’s life be rated on a scale 
from one to ten? The Kingdom of Bhutan’s famous – and highly exoticized – government policy measuring its nation’s Gross National Happiness operates on the idea that the basic tenets of fulfillment can and should be quantified when calculating their nation’s development. Happiness Agents Amber Gurung and Guna Raj Kuikel traverse the 
Himalayan mountains to survey the contentment of citizens from different households and lifestyles. While Amber dutifully administers this census, he too is forced to confront his own struggles with fulfillment, and question what makes him happy. Filmmakers Arun 
Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó join us to talk about their own journey documenting the lives of the Agents of Happiness, Amber and Guna, as they look into the people and the stories of the Bhutanese people behind the “survey” as well as getting to know each other, in this carefully crafted and visually stunning, and revealing of the age-old quest to find the purpose of life.
For more go to: filmmovement.com/agent-of-happiness
About the filmmaker – Arun Bhattarai (director, cinematographer, co-producer, Bhutan) premiered his first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Dorottya Zurbó) – an intimate family story set in Bhutan – at IDFA in 2017. The lm has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, Ambulante, SFFILM, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Before becoming an independent lmmaker, he worked as a TV director at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service for 5 years. He graduated from the rst edition of DocNomads Joint Master in documentary directing in 2014. His recent short documentary ‘Mountain Man’, about Bhutan’s only glaciologist won the best pitch prize at If/Then Global Short-Pitch at IDFA 2019 and is supported by the IDA-XRM Media incubator program. The lm has been screened at IDFA, DOC NYC, Chicago IFF ect. His new lm ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. He established his own production company – Sound Pictures – dedicated to creative documentaries in 2015. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan.
About the filmmaker – Dorottya Zurbó (co-director, Hungary) premiered her first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Arun Bhattarai), – an intimate family story set in Bhutan – at IDFA in 2017. Since then, it has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, San Francisco IDFF, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Parallelly, she worked on her rst directorial debut ‘Easy Lessons’, a feature-length documentary about a young Somalian refugee girl who tries to adapt to Hungary, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival Critics Week section in 2018. The lm participated in more than 40 international festivals (HotDocs, Camden IDFF, Sarajevo IFF etc.) receiving awards such as the Hungarian Critics Award for Best Documentary in 2019. Her new lm ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. Beside lmmaking she has been teaching at the prestigious DocNomads Joint Master program in Europe.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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“This quiet, gently absorbing documentary follows two “happiness agents” as they travel door-to-door, like census workers, collecting data for the government’s happiness survey.” – Cath Clarke, Guardian
“A complex, observant, and bittersweet look at the nature of fulfilment viewed through the infrequently glimpsed lens of Bhutanese culture.” – Andrew Parker, The Gate
“The quiet, intimate charms of Agent of Happiness pulse from poignant collective consideration, filtered through the personal experience of a professional happiness inspector.” – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine
“Something this personal kind of inspires you to reflect as well. This is a lovely and kind documentary that handles big subjects with an unusual amount of honesty.” – Sarah Manvel, Critic’s Notebook
““Agent of Happiness” uses meaningful visual contrast to scrutinize Bhutan’s narrative about itself. It re-injects a vibrant sense of nuance into an exercise that, though nominally geared toward gauging humanity, too often reduces it to a number.” – Siddhant Adlakha, Variety