Agent of Happiness, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, will open the 27th edition of DocsBarcelona on May 2 at the festival’s Sala Phenomena. The Hungarian-Bhutan co-production premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024. Sales on Agent of Happiness are handled by Cinephil and the film is distributed in Spain by Filmin.
The synopsis reads how the Kingdom of Bhutan, located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, is said to be the happiest country on Earth. The documentary follows the daily routine of Amber, one of seventy-five government agents hired to measure people’s happiness in mathematical terms. The calculation of the country’s Gross National Happiness is based on material aspects, such as the number of cows, goats or tractors someone owns, and also on subjective and much more abstract criteria: Do you trust your neighbours? How is your work-life balance? What is your sense of karma?
But the documentary also details the life of one of the agents. Amber is a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding a wife – he is a happiness agent in search of his own happiness. So the film embarks with him on a cross-country road trip, meeting citizens from all walks of life, who remind us of the fragility and beauty of our own happiness.
The film is the second feature doc of Arun Bhattarai, one of Bhutan’s only independent docmakers. Hungarian Dorottya Zurbó, previously directed Easy Lessons, a feature documentary about a young Somali refugee trying to adapt in Hungary, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival’s Critics’ Week 2018.
Anna Petrus, Artistic Director of DocsBarcelona, comments: “[Agent of Happiness] begins with a comedic tone that, little by little, transforms into a solid reflection on happiness and its elusive condition… With a great sensitivity for the beauty of landscapes and faces, Arun Bhattara and Dorottya Zurbó push us to question the expectations we have of our lives and how these often, ironically, contribute to dwarf the moments of happiness we find along the way”.
DocsBarcelona runs May 2 to 12. The complete program will be announced in mid-April. DocsBarcelona Industry will run May 6 to 10.
