2024-08-06
30 分钟In our summer film special, we find out about three great big-screen releases. We hear about a happiness agent in the Bhutanese Himalayas in ‘Agent of Happiness’, explore the moving new Netflix film ‘Daughters’ and jump into the chaotic world of an Irish-language rapping group in ‘Kneecap’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to Monocle on Culture.
I'm Robert Bounds.
Now we're rounding out our cross cultural summer series by shunning the sunshine and settling down in front of the big screen.
And today we're covering three cinematic releases which we think are well worth your screen time.
First, we'll head to the South Asian nation of Bhutan.
Although tiny and remote, it's got a big reputation for one key policy, that of Gross National Happiness.
A fascinating documentary follows workers in charge of measuring happiness across the kingdom.
Then Daughters is a moving new documentary on Netflix which follows four girls preparing to reunite with their imprisoned fathers through a special event at a jail in Washington D.C.
and finally, and with a screeching Gaelic gear shift in tone, we'll head to Ireland to jump into the chaotic world of the rabble rousing Irish language rap group necap.
Do stay tuned.
That's all coming up here on Monocle On Culture.
Film directors Arun Batterai, who hails from Bhutan, and Dorothea Zerbo from Hungary met while studying for master's degrees in documentary filmmaking in Europe.
Agent of Happiness is their second co directed documentary and it follows a Bhutanese civil servant who travels around the country surveying residents for Bhutan's Gross Nak happiness index while wrestling with his own search for happiness.
Monocle's Naomi Shue, Elegant, spoke to the directors to hear more about finding joy and capturing it on film.
I grew up studying Gross National Happiness in my classroom.
When I was growing up, I couldn't escape listening to gnh.
I was celebrating National Happiness Day.
I was listening to the King's speeches about Gross National Happiness.
That time I really didn't understand what, what Gross National Happiness meant.
Only when, when we actually started traveling with our previous film to festivals, we realized that everybody associates Bhutan with this very happy, happy, happy nation.