Agent of Happiness

A happiness surveyor in the Kingdom of Bhutan grapples with his own contentment in this light-hearted yet fascinating probe into how happiness can be measured.

Employed by the Bhutanese government, Amber Gurung travels across mountainous regions to gather data from citizens to measure the country’s gross national happiness. The 148 questions featured in the survey are straightforward, but they draw out the participants’ personal stories, along with a range of emotions that the survey cannot possibly encapsulate. Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó’s film explores larger critical issues raised by this questionnaire and assesses whether it is even possible to define a nation’s happiness, both in the home and as a citizen. They also offer a tender portrait of Amber’s life as a caretaker of his ageing mother, his longing for a romantic partner and his insecurities due to a lack of citizenship.