I posted about the documentary Happy Laos back in August, when my friends were trying to fundraise $4000 to produce the movie in order to add Lao voices to the discussion on happiness, which seems to have become a popular sociological topic recently. After several weeks of online fundraising, the Happy Laos team managed to exceed their $4000 goal, enabling them to employ the up-and-coming Lao professional film company Lao New Wave Cinema to edit the footage (which had been collected on all sorts of devices all across the country) into a narrative. They tried to make a documentary without an “angle,” one that simply tried to address the question “what makes Lao people happy?” and forces the viewer to ask themselves the same question.
There were several screenings of the film around Vientiane, including at the AEPF (Asia-Europe People’s Forum), where it was warmly received. Next up is the Luang Prabang Film Festival. Even if you’re far away, everyone who is interested can check out the 17-minute documentary, as it’s been posted to YouTube. Enjoy!