“No Other Land,” a documentary about the resistance of Palestinian activists against forced displacement and settler expansion in the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, won the Millennium Docs Against Gravity grand prize in the main competition. The jury, comprised of the writer of this article Variety critic Murtada Elfadl, Anna Hints, director of “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” and Lauren Greenfield, director of “The Queen of Versailles,” cited its “power in crystallizing grave injustice into a story of friendship and how hope can thrive only when everyone has freedom.”
The filmmakers – the Palestinian and Israeli collective of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor – could not attend the closing ceremony because of the political situation and the award was accepted on their behalf by the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in Poland. The jury awarded two special mentions, citing the strength of the 12 films in competition. The first to “Sugarcane,...
The filmmakers – the Palestinian and Israeli collective of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor – could not attend the closing ceremony because of the political situation and the award was accepted on their behalf by the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in Poland. The jury awarded two special mentions, citing the strength of the 12 films in competition. The first to “Sugarcane,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Cinephil has sold Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó’s feature documentary “Agent of Happiness” to a wide range of key international territories ahead of the film’s Hot Docs debut this weekend.
Deals are confirmed in the U.K. and Ireland (Dogwoof), Germany and Austria (Filmwelt), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Italy (Wanted), Spain and Portugal (Filmin), Poland (Against Gravity), Switzerland (Trigon), Belgium (Vrt), Israel (Lev), the Western Balkans (Beldocs), Hong Kong and Macao (Now TV Hong Kong), and Taiwan (Sky Digi), with North American distribution set to be announced shortly. Hungarian distributor Mozinet will release the film on May 2.
“Agent of Happiness” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews, and went on to several festivals including True/False, Cph:dox, San Francisco, Full Frame and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Co-directed by Bhattarai and Zurbó following their IDFA-selected “The Next Guardian,” “Agent of Happiness” follows Amber, one of the...
Deals are confirmed in the U.K. and Ireland (Dogwoof), Germany and Austria (Filmwelt), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Italy (Wanted), Spain and Portugal (Filmin), Poland (Against Gravity), Switzerland (Trigon), Belgium (Vrt), Israel (Lev), the Western Balkans (Beldocs), Hong Kong and Macao (Now TV Hong Kong), and Taiwan (Sky Digi), with North American distribution set to be announced shortly. Hungarian distributor Mozinet will release the film on May 2.
“Agent of Happiness” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews, and went on to several festivals including True/False, Cph:dox, San Francisco, Full Frame and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Co-directed by Bhattarai and Zurbó following their IDFA-selected “The Next Guardian,” “Agent of Happiness” follows Amber, one of the...
- 4/25/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar winner John Ridley has some choice words for Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who’s trying to land two seats on the board of the Walt Disney Co.
In the new episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, pod co-host Ridley excoriates Peltz for remarks the Trian Fund titan made about Disney’s superhero movies, specifically The Marvels and Black Panther. In reference to The Marvels, which starred Brie Larson, Peltz told the Financial Times, “Why do I have to have a Marvel [film] that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that?”
Apparently in reference to the Black Panther movies, which have made more than $2 billion worldwide, Peltz added, “Why do I need an all-Black cast?”
Ridley rips into Peltz, saying the billionaire has no business near the Disney board room.
And that’s just the capper to a...
In the new episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, pod co-host Ridley excoriates Peltz for remarks the Trian Fund titan made about Disney’s superhero movies, specifically The Marvels and Black Panther. In reference to The Marvels, which starred Brie Larson, Peltz told the Financial Times, “Why do I have to have a Marvel [film] that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that?”
Apparently in reference to the Black Panther movies, which have made more than $2 billion worldwide, Peltz added, “Why do I need an all-Black cast?”
Ridley rips into Peltz, saying the billionaire has no business near the Disney board room.
And that’s just the capper to a...
- 4/2/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
What does it take to be happy? Filmmakers Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó ravel to the Bhutan, the so-called “happiest country in the world,” to find out. Bhattarai and Zurbó's entry to Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema – Documentary Competition, they tag along Amber Kumar Gurung, one of the government-employed “happiness agents,” on his quest to measure the Gross National Happiness level. Amber and his colleague, Gunaraj Kuikel, interview a wide variety of civilians: married and unmarried, young and old, rural and urban – asking them a smattering of questions from the 148 on the survey.
Early on, we learn that the survey is not as clear-cut as we might imagine. While Amber and Gunaraj may ask about how many cows, goats, or tractors one has on-hand, more discussion is required to draw out individual stories. As people answer – some out of obligation, some to show off, and some vulnerably confessing to issues...
Early on, we learn that the survey is not as clear-cut as we might imagine. While Amber and Gunaraj may ask about how many cows, goats, or tractors one has on-hand, more discussion is required to draw out individual stories. As people answer – some out of obligation, some to show off, and some vulnerably confessing to issues...
- 2/15/2024
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
By reputation, the Kingdom of Bhutan is the happiest country on Earth, but the “Agent of Happiness” seeks to explore that assertion. The documentary by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó follows the routine of 40-year-old Amber, one of 75 government workers hired to survey people’s happiness on a mathematical scale, and it details not only the lives of his interviewees, but also that of the agent himself. It remains, for most part, a withheld, no-frills investigation, whose commentary is light and self-evident. With no “talking heads,” the film plays out more like dramatized docufiction, but eventually, its patchwork of subjects is woven together to create something melodic and meaningful.
Lush shots of the rural mountainside lure us into Bhutan, and into the life of Amber, as he gently clips his mother’s nails before donning his government robes. As he drives through numerous villages with his partner, fellow agent Guna,...
Lush shots of the rural mountainside lure us into Bhutan, and into the life of Amber, as he gently clips his mother’s nails before donning his government robes. As he drives through numerous villages with his partner, fellow agent Guna,...
- 1/20/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? Our film, Agent of Happiness, is a road movie about a happiness agent who travels door to door to measure the happiness index of the society. It’s a physical journey through the meandering roads of the Bhutanese Himalayas where he meets people from […]
The post “We Tried to Look Behind All These Fantasies and Projections” | Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Agent of Happiness first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Tried to Look Behind All These Fantasies and Projections” | Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Agent of Happiness first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? Our film, Agent of Happiness, is a road movie about a happiness agent who travels door to door to measure the happiness index of the society. It’s a physical journey through the meandering roads of the Bhutanese Himalayas where he meets people from […]
The post “We Tried to Look Behind All These Fantasies and Projections” | Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Agent of Happiness first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Tried to Look Behind All These Fantasies and Projections” | Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Agent of Happiness first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Tel Aviv-based sales company Cinephil has acquired world rights for feature documentary “Agent of Happiness,” which delves into the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, ahead of its upcoming Sundance Film Festival debut in the World Cinema Documentary competition.
Co-directed by Arun Bhattarai, who is Bhutanese, in tandem with Hungary’s Dorottya Zurbó, “Agent of Happiness” revolves around a 40-year-old man named Amber, who is one of the agents employed by the Bhutanese government to measure its so-called Gross National Happiness level.
In the late 1990s, Bhutan introduced a unique socioeconomic indicator called the Gross National Happiness Index, meant to ensure that economic development doesn’t disrupt traditional lifestyles. Amber, who still lives with his elderly mother, is “nevertheless a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding love: a happiness agent who is in search of his own happiness,” as the doc’s synopsis puts it.
In “Agent of Happiness,” the directors embark...
Co-directed by Arun Bhattarai, who is Bhutanese, in tandem with Hungary’s Dorottya Zurbó, “Agent of Happiness” revolves around a 40-year-old man named Amber, who is one of the agents employed by the Bhutanese government to measure its so-called Gross National Happiness level.
In the late 1990s, Bhutan introduced a unique socioeconomic indicator called the Gross National Happiness Index, meant to ensure that economic development doesn’t disrupt traditional lifestyles. Amber, who still lives with his elderly mother, is “nevertheless a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding love: a happiness agent who is in search of his own happiness,” as the doc’s synopsis puts it.
In “Agent of Happiness,” the directors embark...
- 1/12/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s World Cinema Docu Competition sees The Painter and the Thief (2020) filmmaker Benjamin Ree among the pack of ten. Here is the line-up:
Agent of Happiness / Bhutan, Hungary — Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people’s happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way? World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Battle for Laikipia / Kenya, U.S.A. — Unresolved historical injustices and climate change raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, a wildlife conservation haven.…...
Agent of Happiness / Bhutan, Hungary — Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people’s happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way? World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Battle for Laikipia / Kenya, U.S.A. — Unresolved historical injustices and climate change raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, a wildlife conservation haven.…...
- 12/6/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: The Points North Institute today announced recipients of three of its prestigious fellowship programs, ahead of next month’s Camden International Film Festival in Maine.
The trio of programs – the Points North Fellowship, North Star Fellowship, and Lef/Ciff Fellowship – will support a total of 16 documentary projects now in development in the U.S. and a dozen other countries [see full list of projects below].
“Eighty percent of this year’s Points North-supported projects are directed or co-directed by filmmakers from backgrounds historically marginalized or excluded from the film industry,” the institute noted in a release, “including those who identify as Bipoc, LGBTQ+, or as a person with a disability.”
The fellowship programs, consisting of private workshops, screenings, industry meetings and other events, will take place both in-person during the Camden International Film Festival and online. The festival, itself a program of the Points North Institute, unfolds along a bucolic stretch of the Maine coastline.
The trio of programs – the Points North Fellowship, North Star Fellowship, and Lef/Ciff Fellowship – will support a total of 16 documentary projects now in development in the U.S. and a dozen other countries [see full list of projects below].
“Eighty percent of this year’s Points North-supported projects are directed or co-directed by filmmakers from backgrounds historically marginalized or excluded from the film industry,” the institute noted in a release, “including those who identify as Bipoc, LGBTQ+, or as a person with a disability.”
The fellowship programs, consisting of private workshops, screenings, industry meetings and other events, will take place both in-person during the Camden International Film Festival and online. The festival, itself a program of the Points North Institute, unfolds along a bucolic stretch of the Maine coastline.
- 8/26/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Institute allocates $590,000 in unrestricted grant support for projects from 20 countries and territories across five continents.
Projects from Rithy Panh and Laura Poitras are among a diverse roster of 18 Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grantees announced on Tuesday (June 8).
There is a strong focus on Bipoc and women directors as the Institute announced a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support for projects from 20 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
All of the US projects are directed by at least one Bipoc filmmaker. Some 72% of granted projects are directed by women, and the same proportion are working...
Projects from Rithy Panh and Laura Poitras are among a diverse roster of 18 Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grantees announced on Tuesday (June 8).
There is a strong focus on Bipoc and women directors as the Institute announced a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support for projects from 20 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
All of the US projects are directed by at least one Bipoc filmmaker. Some 72% of granted projects are directed by women, and the same proportion are working...
- 6/8/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Sundance Institute has unveiled the latest recipients of grants for documentary projects spanning the globe.
The 18 projects, all in various stages of development, will split a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support, provided by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Luminate.
This year’s projects represent 20 countries and territories across five continents, with more than half the films having international roots. With all U.S. films this year helmed by at least one Black, Indigenous or person of color director, this year’s granting focused on projects by artists from underrepresented communities, ensuring that the stories be told from within the communities. Thirteen of the 18 projects are also led by women directors.
“Supporting equity in storytelling by elevating diverse cohorts is central to our mission,” documentary film fund director Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs said. “Sundance funding can play a vital role in creating a space for freedom of speech,...
The 18 projects, all in various stages of development, will split a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support, provided by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Luminate.
This year’s projects represent 20 countries and territories across five continents, with more than half the films having international roots. With all U.S. films this year helmed by at least one Black, Indigenous or person of color director, this year’s granting focused on projects by artists from underrepresented communities, ensuring that the stories be told from within the communities. Thirteen of the 18 projects are also led by women directors.
“Supporting equity in storytelling by elevating diverse cohorts is central to our mission,” documentary film fund director Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs said. “Sundance funding can play a vital role in creating a space for freedom of speech,...
- 6/8/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
A diverse group of nonfiction filmmakers, many just starting their careers, is joining the distinguished list of Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grantees.
The institute today announced $590,000 in “unrestricted grant support” to 18 projects at various stages of production, almost three quarters of which are helmed by women directors [full list below]. The projects originate from 20 countries and territories stretching across five continents. Of the U.S.-based films honored with grants, all “are helmed by at least one Bipoc director,” according to the institute.
“Granting focused on projects by artists from historically underrepresented communities, ensuring that these stories are being told from within the communities,” the institute noted. “Additionally, 72-percent of grantees are early career filmmakers, working on their first or second feature film. These statistics reflect the Fund’s commitment to emerging artists whose voices have been historically marginalized in hegemonic Western societies.”
Past recipients of Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grants include four...
The institute today announced $590,000 in “unrestricted grant support” to 18 projects at various stages of production, almost three quarters of which are helmed by women directors [full list below]. The projects originate from 20 countries and territories stretching across five continents. Of the U.S.-based films honored with grants, all “are helmed by at least one Bipoc director,” according to the institute.
“Granting focused on projects by artists from historically underrepresented communities, ensuring that these stories are being told from within the communities,” the institute noted. “Additionally, 72-percent of grantees are early career filmmakers, working on their first or second feature film. These statistics reflect the Fund’s commitment to emerging artists whose voices have been historically marginalized in hegemonic Western societies.”
Past recipients of Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grants include four...
- 6/8/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Ten exhibitors to be featured as part of platform.
Cannes Docs, the documentary film platform running as part of the virtual Marché du Film, has unveiled its programme for the 2020 online edition.
Running from June 22-26, the platform will feature 10 virtual exhibitors from the international documentary community: Antidote, Antipode, Article Films, Cat&Docs, Cinephil, Dogwoof, Metfilm Sales, Rise and Shine World Sales, Ruth Films, and Sweet Spot Docs.
It has expanded its festival partners, adding Dmz Docs from South Korea and É Tudo Verdade from Brazil, to the European cohort of Cph:Dox, Dok Leipzig, Idfa, Ji.hlava Idff, and Visions du Réel.
Cannes Docs, the documentary film platform running as part of the virtual Marché du Film, has unveiled its programme for the 2020 online edition.
Running from June 22-26, the platform will feature 10 virtual exhibitors from the international documentary community: Antidote, Antipode, Article Films, Cat&Docs, Cinephil, Dogwoof, Metfilm Sales, Rise and Shine World Sales, Ruth Films, and Sweet Spot Docs.
It has expanded its festival partners, adding Dmz Docs from South Korea and É Tudo Verdade from Brazil, to the European cohort of Cph:Dox, Dok Leipzig, Idfa, Ji.hlava Idff, and Visions du Réel.
- 6/11/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
For the second edition of the Changing Face of Europe, a collaboration between the Hot Docs film festival (April 25-May 5) and European Film Promotion (Efp), 10 European documentaries will offer Toronto audiences a provocative and kaleidoscopic portrait of the cultural forces shaping the continent today.
The program is a study in both intimate, personal stories and the wide-angle view they can bring to the world. “Filmmakers are both looking outwards, but also looking inwards through the lens of the self to see a greater perspective,” says Shane Smith, the festival’s director of programming. “The most resonant stories are the most personal, in a lot of ways. And that’s the skill of these filmmakers: telling a personal story … that someone half a world away can connect with.”
Some of those personal stories reflect the political and cultural cross-currents sweeping across Europe today. Danish director Marie Skovgaard’s “The Reformist — A...
The program is a study in both intimate, personal stories and the wide-angle view they can bring to the world. “Filmmakers are both looking outwards, but also looking inwards through the lens of the self to see a greater perspective,” says Shane Smith, the festival’s director of programming. “The most resonant stories are the most personal, in a lot of ways. And that’s the skill of these filmmakers: telling a personal story … that someone half a world away can connect with.”
Some of those personal stories reflect the political and cultural cross-currents sweeping across Europe today. Danish director Marie Skovgaard’s “The Reformist — A...
- 4/24/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Camden International Film Festival is joining a growing push into gender parity in the festival world. When the festival launches later this week, it will present 37 features, 43 short films, 1 episodic series, and 20 virtual reality and immersive experiences from over 30 countries, most of them helmed by women. As gender parity continues to spread through the festival world, Camden has taken it one step further: Across all sections, not just film selections, half or more of the selections are directed or co-directed by women.
Other festivals have recently achieved gender parity among their slates, including this year’s Hot Docs. New York’s Tribeca Film Festival has moved closer to parity in recent years as well; last year’s lineup included 48 percent of films directed by women. The Sundance Film Festival is also pushing forward; for the 2018 edition of the festival, 37 percent of its 122 features were directed by women.
Other festivals have recently achieved gender parity among their slates, including this year’s Hot Docs. New York’s Tribeca Film Festival has moved closer to parity in recent years as well; last year’s lineup included 48 percent of films directed by women. The Sundance Film Festival is also pushing forward; for the 2018 edition of the festival, 37 percent of its 122 features were directed by women.
- 9/11/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The low-budget initiative’s previous titles include Zsófia Szilágyi’s ‘One Day’, in Critics’ Week at Cannes.
The Hungarian National Film Fund’s low-budget Incubator Program, aimed at enabling young first-time directors to make their first films, has greenlit several new features.
They include Grosan Cristina and Nóra Rainer-Micsinyei comedy drama Things Worth Weeping For, Hajni Kis’ relationship drama A Pack Of Our Town, Nándor Lőrincz and Bálint Nagy’s drama The Last Bus, Márton Szirmai’s animation Where Did I Ruin It? and Judit Oláh’s drama The Camp.
Through Incubator, similar in ethos to the UK’s iFeatures initiative,...
The Hungarian National Film Fund’s low-budget Incubator Program, aimed at enabling young first-time directors to make their first films, has greenlit several new features.
They include Grosan Cristina and Nóra Rainer-Micsinyei comedy drama Things Worth Weeping For, Hajni Kis’ relationship drama A Pack Of Our Town, Nándor Lőrincz and Bálint Nagy’s drama The Last Bus, Márton Szirmai’s animation Where Did I Ruin It? and Judit Oláh’s drama The Camp.
Through Incubator, similar in ethos to the UK’s iFeatures initiative,...
- 5/11/2018
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Australian documentary, 'Waste Nation' , from producer-director Dan Goldberg, is one of 10 projects selected for The FACTory..
The Australian International Documentary Conference (Aidc) has announced the 10 docos selected for its pitching forum, The FACTory.
Presented by Film Victoria and Screen Australia, the forum will allow the selected filmmakers to pitch their projects directly to international buyers, commissioners, and distributors. The forum takes place in front of a live audience.
Over 25 commissioning bodies are set to attend the event, including Tribeca Film Institute, National Geographic, Foxtel, BBC Storyville, Al Jazeera English, Canal +, Nhk Japan, American Documentary | Pov, Discovery and Universal Pictures.
The best pitch on the day will receive a marketing and distribution deal from The Solid State and Fan-Force — including $5,000 towards a theatrical trailer, poster and website, and $3,700 of distribution and social media marketing support services..
Selected from over 60 entries from around the world, the 10 successful projects are:.
Waste Nation (Australia...
The Australian International Documentary Conference (Aidc) has announced the 10 docos selected for its pitching forum, The FACTory.
Presented by Film Victoria and Screen Australia, the forum will allow the selected filmmakers to pitch their projects directly to international buyers, commissioners, and distributors. The forum takes place in front of a live audience.
Over 25 commissioning bodies are set to attend the event, including Tribeca Film Institute, National Geographic, Foxtel, BBC Storyville, Al Jazeera English, Canal +, Nhk Japan, American Documentary | Pov, Discovery and Universal Pictures.
The best pitch on the day will receive a marketing and distribution deal from The Solid State and Fan-Force — including $5,000 towards a theatrical trailer, poster and website, and $3,700 of distribution and social media marketing support services..
Selected from over 60 entries from around the world, the 10 successful projects are:.
Waste Nation (Australia...
- 2/5/2017
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
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