Loading Page
Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness
Top 4 Billed Cast
Ann Mortifee
Narrator
Jigme Drukpa
Loading Trailer Videos...
HomePage
Overview
Imagine a country where happiness is the guiding principle of government. Imagine a people who see all life as sacred and the source of their happiness, a place with an abundance of clean and renewable energy, a nation committed to preserving its culture and whose progress is measured by obtaining Gross National Happiness for its people. Where is this Shangri-La? Bhutan. But can a place like Bhutan really exist? Can such ideals be realized? Can this small, geographically isolated country tucked away in the Himalayans truly protect its environment and culture as they open their doors to the West? The answer is rooted in the Bhutanese view of the world, anchored in Buddhism, with the simple message that happiness can only be found by taking the middle path the path that balances the needs of man with the powerful spirits of nature.
Release Date
2007-11-07
Average
0
Rating:
0.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
Keywords
Similar Movies
56%
How to Cook Your Life(de)
2007-05-10
A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.
80%
The Zen Mind(en)
2007-01-01
In the last fifty years the culture of Zen has spread far beyond Japan. Zen centers and zen retreats have sprung up throughout America and Europe. When Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen, brought Zen to Japan from China 800 years ago, it quickly took root and became an integral part of Japanese life. Yet what do we know about zen practice in Japan today? The Zen Mind is a fascinating journey across Japan to explore zen in its natural habitat.
0%
The Godmother(fr)
2025-10-18
Marzena Sowa is a quintessential contemporary European: independent, aware of how the world works—or should work—and single. After her mother’s death, she is consumed by longing and sets off for her distant homeland, a Polish village where her beloved aunt Niuszka—an embodiment of joie de vivre and peace with herself—lived her entire life under the heavy weight of patriarchy. The film becomes a collision of social models, resolved with an open ending.
70%
Brilliant Moon: Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche(en)
2010-01-01
Brilliant Moon chronicles the life of the writer, poet, and meditation master Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Tibet's most revered 20th-century Buddhist teachers. Spiritual guide to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Royal Family of Bhutan, his life and teachings were an inspiration to all who encountered him. Richard Gere and Lou Reed provide the narration for his dangerous journey out of China, the subsequent spread of his influence and the search for his reincarnation after his death.
77%
But Beautiful(de)
2019-11-14
In his new film, Erwin Wagenhofer is looking for the good and beautiful in this world.
50%
Bhutan: The Dictatorship of Happiness(en)
Hidden away in the Himalayan foothills, Bhutan is a country reputed for its exquisite natural beauty and the importance its people place on individual happiness. The Bhutaneses’ acute environmental awareness has led it to being the only carbon-negative country in the world. To many, the small nation seems like a model for the rest of the world. But behind this idyllic façade there lies a more sinister reality. Buddhism is the only religion tolerated by the Wangchuck dynasty who have ruled the country for the last century. This ultra-conservative regime is closely intertwined with the Buddhist faith. The flocks of millionaires and Hollywood stars who arrive in Bhutan to work on their karma can only be accommodated thanks to the toil of terribly paid workers. This film explores the dynasty’s rule while also taking a look at the youthful counterculture movement which has emerged since the country’s exposure to the internet.
77%
Agent of Happiness(dz)
2024-07-12
The documentary team follows two happiness agents in their forties who spend a month and a half on the road twice a year, going door-to-door with their questionnaires in isolated villages in the Himalayas. The filmmakers undertake to provide an intimate insight into the daily lives and desires of Bhutanese people, and also seek the answer to the universal question of whether happiness can really be measured. Gross National Happiness promises a heart-warming journey into a mysterious, fairytale-like world, which is the exact opposite of the social order dominated by consumption and desires.
0%
Traces: The Kabul Museum 1988(ja)
2003-01-01
The Kabul National Museum, once known as the "face of Afghanistan," was destroyed in 1993. We filmed the most important cultural treasures of the still-intact museum in 1988: ancient Greco-Roman art and antiquitied of Hellenistic civilization, as well as Buddhist sculpture that was said to have mythology--the art of Gandhara, Bamiyan, and Shotorak among them. After the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, some seventy percent of the contents of the museum was destroyed, stolen, or smuggled overseas to Japan and other countries. The movement to return these items is also touched upon. The footage in this video represents that only film documentation of the Kabul Museum ever made.
73%
Wisdom of Happiness(en)
2024-11-05
A deeply intimate and highly cinematic documentary featuring the Dalai Lama, who, at nearly ninety year of age, offers practical advice for navigating the 21st century's challenges.
100%
Lord of the Dance/Destroyer of Illusion(en)
1985-01-01
The documentary focuses on the annual Mani Rimdu festival of Tibet and Nepal, an event which encapsulates the Himalayan Buddhist experience.
100%
Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut(en)
2008-04-16
Buddhist monks open up about the joys and challenges of living out the precepts of the Buddha as a full-time vocation. Controversies swirling within modern monastic Buddhism are examined, from celibacy and the role of women to racism and concerns about the environment.
66%
The Venerable W.(en)
2017-06-07
A view of the religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhist through the portrait of the Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu, leader of anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar.
62%
The Buddha(en)
2010-04-17
This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.
58%
Walk with Me(en)
2017-05-11
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.
90%
Becoming Who I Was(bo)
2017-09-27
Angdu is no ordinary boy. Indeed, in a past life he was a venerated Buddhist master. His village already treats him like a saint as a result. The village doctor, who has taken the boy under his wing, prepares him to be able to pass on his wisdom. Alas, Tibet, Angdu’s former homeland and the centre of his faith, lies far away from his current home in the highlands of Northern India. On top of that, the conflict between China and Tibet makes the prospect of a trip there even more daunting. Undeterred by these harsh facts, the duo set off for their destination on foot, accompanied by questions of friendship and the nature of life. With its narrative approach steeped in a serene sense of concentration, this documentary film, composed over a period of eight years, stands as a fundamental experience in its own right.
0%
THE QUEST: Everest(en)
2024-11-26
THE QUEST: Everest is a journey to deeper understand and climb the most iconic mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, and to reveal its amazing history and culture. From experiencing Everest like never before to witnessing unique stories about one of the most remarkable places on earth, THE QUEST: Everest is a one-of-a-kind cinematic tribute to the human spirit of adventure that lives inside us all.
64%
Wheel of Time(de)
2003-10-30
Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
Recommendations Movies
80%
Avatar Spirits(en)
2010-06-22
Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creators of the hit television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, reflect on the creation of the masterful series.
72%
Seven Up!(en)
1964-05-05
A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.
64%
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn(en)
2015-02-27
A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.
58%
Walk with Me(en)
2017-05-11
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.
82%
Baraka(en)
1992-09-15
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
71%
Happy(en)
2012-02-11
Happy is a 2011 feature documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Roko Belic. It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology. Director Roko Belic was originally inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac (Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) showed him an article in the New York Times entitled "A New Measure of Well Being From a Happy Little Kingdom". 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 over 20 people, ranging from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkatta, a family living in a "co-housing community" in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.
72%
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country(en)
2008-11-12
Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.
66%
Champs(en)
2015-03-13
A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.
79%
Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show(en)
2017-10-20
It had all the makings of a huge television success: a white-hot comic at the helm, a coveted primetime slot, and a pantheon of future comedy legends in the cast and crew. So why did The Dana Carvey Show—with a writers room and cast including then unknowns Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Robert Smigel, Charlie Kaufman, and more— crash and burn so spectacularly? TOO FUNNY TO FAIL tells the hilarious true story of a crew of genius misfits who set out to make comedy history… and succeeded in a way they never intended.
62%
Elstree 1976(en)
2015-10-09
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
67%
American Symphony(en)
2023-11-24
Musician Jon Batiste attempts to compose a symphony as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, undergoes cancer treatment.
78%
Happiness Continues(en)
2020-04-23
A live concert experience and exclusive look into life on the road with The Jonas Brothers during their Happiness Begins concert tour.
64%
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library(en)
2017-09-13
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
71%
The Class of ‘92(en)
2013-12-01
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
66%
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News(en)
2020-03-19
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
76%
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes(en)
2019-04-05
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
67%
Bukowski: Born Into This(en)
2003-01-18
Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski’s poetry readings are interviews with the poet’s fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski’s friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski’s life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski’s legendary status.
65%
Strip Down, Rise Up(en)
2021-02-05
The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.
67%
Gilbert(en)
2017-04-20
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.