Happy Documentary Full Movie

[Sebastian Thorndike]

Happyis a 2011 documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Roko Belic.[1] It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology.[2]

Roko Belic was inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac showed him an article in The New York Times titled "A New Measure of Well Being from a Happy Little Kingdom".[3] The article ranks the United States as the 23rd-happiest country in the world. Shadyac then suggested that Belic make a documentary about happiness. Belic spent several years interviewing hundreds of people, from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkata,[4] a family living in a cohousing community in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.

Roko and his brother Adrian Belic shot the film on three Sony Z1U HDV video cameras. They interviewed a number of psychologists around the world, including Ed Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois; Richard Davidson, a professor at the University of Wisconsin's Lab of Affective Neuroscience; and Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness.[5]

Vivien Hillgrove edited the film. Belic received the majority of the budget from Tom Shadyac to complete principal photography and post-production. The filmmakers then turned to crowdsource fundraising website Kickstarter to raise the finishing funds for the film. The Kickstarter campaign raised $36,000 in July 2010.[5]

Happy is a documentary that leads viewers on a journey across five continents in search of the keys to happiness. Through cutting-edge science and through remarkable human stories from Namibia, Brazil, Bhutan, Kolkata, Louisiana, and more, the film leads us to a deeper understanding of why and how we can pursue more fulfilling, healthier, and happier lives.

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Right off the bat, Happy hits us with some hard numbers. According to one of the experts in the movie, 50% of our happiness is genetically pre-determined. This gives us our set point for happiness. Another 10% is influenced by circumstance, such as wealth and other external factors. The last 40% is influenced strictly by internal controllable factors.

In other words, it is possible for humans to work towards being happy without changing their circumstance. Further, by improving this state of happiness, it is easier to impact our external circumstances, because happier people are more likely to do well in life.

The last thing that happy people seem to have in common according to the Happy documentary is that they have a purpose and they serve the community. How closely this is related to the earlier point about relationships is unclear, but the higher purpose of serving the community comes back as a good replacement for the status treadmill. The former allows one a sense of fulfillment, while the latter leaves one always wanting more, and as a result never feeling fulfilled.

Recently, I was reminded of the documentary Happy by filmmaker Roku Belic. A friend brought up the 2011 film in conversation and I couldn't remember if I'd seen it. Such is the information overload I experience being connected to the 24/7 library a.k.a. the web. I check subjects in and out so much I don't give each source enough time to resonate.

Which is why I restarted my suspended Netflix account. Once I'd confirmed I'd seen Happy, I'd plan to move to the Werner Herzog's film Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, which was conveniently next in my digital cue. Not so. I rewatched the entire film, taking notes and on more than a few occasions, crying. As I struggle with my own trajectory of creating something I want to last forever and wondering how I'm going to feed that something, I'm attracted to things that help me either confirm or deny the constant question in my mind, "Am I doing the right thing?"

The turning point in Happy that loops me back in happens in Bhutan, the first country to model a Gross National Happiness indicator. My own company, Azawhistle Kids, was crafted from the desire to help people (and myself) be happy. The best way I know how to be happy is to do something. However, what we choose to do is extremely important, even when it's a question of going to the doughnut shop, tackling a math problem for a science degree or washing the car. Every decision comes at the cost of another activity and each decision gets you further down a path.

It seems like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the unemployment rate, housing starts or the housing market, and Entertainment Tonight are the indicators that come across my radar -- mainly because my information sources lean towards Public Radio and celebrity pop culture (to see how bad it gets). Admittedly, these information sources affect mood and outlook. Yet imagine, if we as a nation were a leader in human progress and measured society's happiness with real-life indicators, instead of cold dry economic factors? Imagine that indicator threaded through national news sources and discussed on Entertainment Tonight. I dare say we'd have a different national conversation.

The documentary moves on to Japan, where larger problems loom. A country that promised to rebuild after WWII has done so to such a degree that their culture identifies with Karoshi, which means to work oneself to death. Yet, Japan is also home to the largest group of centenarians per capita in Okinawa. As one elderly woman describes, the reason for long life is happiness and friends. She describes this as Ichariba Chode, which means "no harm to anyone."

From here the movie takes us to the Benicia Middle School in California, Namibia, Calcutta, the Dalai Lama, to meditation, which reminds us and reinforces that people are happy when they do what they love to do, live in a supportive, uncompetitive community, surrounded by compassionate and kind people.

"My real guru to teach me the value of compassion is my mother," said the Dalai Lama. Mother/child bonding is by nature, not by law or by religion. So why is law and religion the few avenues our government, and thereby our society, formally recognizes as a blue print to a good society? Why not have more benchmarks for our kids and communities to come together and simply be happy. The Constitution says we have the "right to pursue happiness." We want our independence but too much independence comes at a price. It's true, as community increases, stress decreases.

The Japanese have another useful term, Osouji, which means the big clean up before the New Year. Families and communities clean up to get rid of the old and start the upcoming year fresh and clean. Osouji was one of the big influences to create my own company and an app to teach kids that not everything is measured in grades or money. You can make your mom happy by simply cleaning your room.

What is your favorite Thich Nhat Hanh quote?

Here are my top three (all of which I have, in his calligraphy, by the way):

1. Be Still and Know

2. Peace in Yourself, Peace in the World

3. There is No Way to Happiness, Happiness is the Way

How did you choose the topics to be discussed during the filming of the documentary?

When you make a documentary, you shoot a lot of footage and then edit it down. I wanted to do two things: to teach and introduce people to mindfulness who do not yet know about it and to make people feel relaxed and mindful by just watching it.

I asked questions based on what I had learned, what I thought people would find interesting, and the expertise of the particular guest.

The funny thing is that for several weeks we were editing many, many of hours of footage down to 90 minutes and I felt so relaxed because I spent all day listening to all the great wisdom from all our great participants. Usually, editing can be stressful. Here, it was mindful!

To what extent were Thay and the monastics involved in the documentary-making process?

They were not, other than two things:

Their scenes were shot over many visits, for which they were great and so patient with us. At one point, I was going to include a supermodel, a sports star, a professional fighter, and some clips from popular movies. This was all to advance the cause of making this appeal to a broader audience. Sister Chan Khong and other monastics were strongly against this.

Thay, on the other hand, seemed to understand the goal of reaching lots of people by including sports figures and models. I still think that would have helped, but out of respect for Sister Chan Khong, I decided not to do it.

The film weaves together documentary portraits of human experiences with information from researchers and scientists who study the now popular academic field of happiness, or positive psychology. It presents many ideas about how and why we can pursue more fulfilling, healthier and happier lives.

Glenn Holsten: I thought it was beautifully executed. Great production values. The animation segments were terrific. I really appreciated the scientific information about how we work, what makes us eligible for happiness. From what I can tell from that movie, it looks like we have about a 50 percent shot at happiness, and the rest is what we do (or what happens to us).

Bud Clayman: You talked about flow, and I related to what you said about filmmaking. Let me ask you, when you think about happiness, do you think you should start with others, or do you think you should start with yourself.

Glenn Holsten: I think so. Living with a big family gives you that. I shared a lot with my family. And while we had our differences, I think I felt everyone was really rooting for one another.

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