The World’s First – HAPPINESS FILM FESTIVAL 20 – 24 March 2019
The Happiness Film Festival is the world’s FIRST film festival that promotes happiness! Held in Singapore, we hope to raise greater awareness on happiness and well-being through films and post-film dialogue sessions.
Film is a powerful medium that can engage audiences and start meaningful conversations. The post-screening dialogues will bring together speakers to talk about issues or ideas explored in the film.
About:
THE SHORT VERSION
We promote happiness and wellbeing.
THE LONG VERSION
There are cultures that invest time and resources in their own wellbeing.
Happiness Initiative is born out of a culture that is quite different. In Singapore, often, happiness and wellbeing can wait. Progress and financial achievements take precedence.
When we neglect our happiness and wellbeing for too long, it comes at a price. Once we get into the downward spiral, it is not easy to get out. Progress and financial achievements don’t have to come at a price of our happiness and wellbeing. They can coexist.
Happiness Initiative is about helping people discover the choices they can make.
“For it is my belief that no medication or technique of therapy holds as much promise for serving as a buffer against mental illness as does human strength.”
Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania
Details:
14 March, 7PM
@ *SCAPE Hubquarters
Many talks focuses on success stories. But often, each success story is accompanied by many more untold stories of failures.
These series of talks will focus on those stories, where people come forward to share about their biggest screw-ups and failures, and how they overcame it.
It’s okay to fail, and it’s important to keep trying.
In conjunction with the Happiness Film Festival, we will be screening a short film during the event – THE SHINING STAR OF LOSERS EVERYWHERE. The film is about Haru Urara, a racehorse with a pink Hello Kitty mask and a career-long losing streak. Haru Urara became a ray of hope for the people of Japan in 2003, when Japan was plunged into economic darkness.
Speakers: SIMON LEOW,
Details:
16 March, 7PM
@ *SCAPE Gallery
Dir. Yann Arthus-Bertrand
2015 / Documentary / France / 188 mins / Various Languages with English Subtitles / M18 (Some Mature Content 内容只宜十八岁及以上)
What is it that makes us human? Is it that we love, that we fight? That we laugh? Cry? Our curiosity? The quest for discovery?
Driven by these questions, filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries. Working with a dedicated team of translators, journalists and cameramen, Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness.
HUMAN is a politically engaged work which allows us to embrace the human condition and to reflect on the meaning of our existence.
Awards:
Winner – Best Documentary, Beijing International Film Festival
Winner – Freedom of Expression Honorary Award, CinEuphoria Awards
Winner – Most Popular International Documentary, Vancouver International Film Festival
Details:
20 March (Wed), 6.30PM
@ The Projector
(Includes Opening Reception)
Dir. Sara Hirsh Bordo
2015 / Documentary / USA / 78 mins / English
Born with a rare syndrome that prevents her from gaining weight, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Velasquez was first bullied as a child in school for looking different and, later online, as a teenager when she discovered a YouTube video labeling her “The World’s Ugliest Woman.”
The film chronicles unheard stories and details of Lizzie’s physical and emotional journey up to her multi-million viewed TEDx talk, and follows her pursuit from a motivational speaker to Capitol Hill as she lobbies for the first federal anti-bullying bill.
Awards:
Winner – Best Feature Film, Justice Film Festival Chicago
Winner – Spirit Award, Bentonville Film Festival
Winner – Documentary Spotlight Audience Award, SXSW Film Festival
Winner – Audience Award, Illuminate Film Festival
Winner – Documentary Audience Award, Newport Beach Film Festival
Winner – Audience Award, Lower East Side Film Festival
Winner – Best Documentary Film Audience AWard, Traverse City Film Festival
Post-Screening Dialogue
In the online realm, things can escalate fast and get blown out of proportion. The post-screening dialogue will explore the themes of resilience and kindness in a space that we often have little control over.
Speakers: SHERMAN HO, DR WILLIAM WAN, JUN CHU
Details:
21 March (Thu), 7.30PM
@ The Projector
Dir. Shinobu Yaguchi
2017 / Comedy, Drama / Japan / 117 mins / Japanese with English Subtitles / PG
Residing in Tokyo, the Suzuki family is a dysfunctional family, where everyone is self-centred and absorbed in their own lives.
One morning, they wake and find out that all the electricity is off. They decide to go to work and school, but the trains and cars are also out of commission. Entire weeks passes, the situation remains unchanged, and their food supplies begin to dwindle.
With no option left, they head to Kagoshima on bicycles, but the journey brings trying times they tackle to make it through.
Post-Screening Dialogue
With the Internet, we are experiencing unprecedented connectivity. Yet, there seems to be a paradox – the more connected we are; the more disconnected we are to others, especially people that matter. The post-screening dialogue explores this paradox.
Speakers: Simon Leow, Sullyn Chong, Dawn Sim
Details:
22 March (Fri), 7.30PM
@ The Projector
Dir. Rocky Walls
2018 / Documentary / Denmark / 90 mins / English / PG13 (Some coarse language)
Hygge has exploded in popularity amidst growing division and distrust around the world, but the Danish word and its definition are more complicated than it seems. For those who seek happiness, this exploratory documentary travels around the globe to discover the true meaning of hygge and how to find it.
Awards:
Official Selection – Heartland International Film Festival 2018
Winner – Annual Copenhagen Film Festival 2018
Official Selection – DOCLANDS 2018
Finalist – Twin Cities Film Festival 2018
Official Selection – Indy Film Festival 2018
Official Selection – Fort Myers Beach Film Festival 2018
Post-Screening Dialogue
Denmark has been ranked top three in happiness since the first issue of the World Happiness Report in 2012. The post-screening dialogue explores Hygge – an idea that is so central to what it means to be happy in Denmark. The dialogue also explores if the idea of Hygge can be applicable to our Singapore context.
Speakers: SIMON LEOW, MAGNUS HØJBERG MERNILD, CLAIRE ONG
Details:
23 March (Sat), 11AM
@ Aliwal Arts Centre
What exactly is Happiness? Is it an elusive idea, or is it something that you can choose to experience?
Join us for in this two hour experience where we will share a short introduction of the science and research behind happiness.
What we will cover:
1. Why is Happiness always short-lived?
2. Misconceptions about Happiness
3. Choices we can make to be happier
Details:
23 March (Sat), 2PM
@ The Projector
Dir. Jairus McLeary
2017 / Documentary / USA / 87 mins / English / Rating TBC
Set inside a single room in Folsom Prison, THE WORK follows three men from the outside as they participate in a four-day group therapy retreat with level-four convicts. Over the four days, each man in the room takes his turn at delving deep into his past. The raw and revealing process that the incarcerated men undertake exceeds the expectations of the free men, ripping them out of their comfort zones and forcing them to see themselves and the prisoners in unexpected ways.
THE WORK offers a powerful and rare look past the cinder block walls, steel doors and the dehumanising tropes in our culture to reveal a movement of change and redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.
Awards:
Winner – Documentary Award Winner, Sheffield International Documentary Festival
Winner – Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award, SXSW 2017
Official Selection – Melbourne International Film Festival 2017
Winner – Best Documentary Feature Audience Choice Award, Chicago International Film Festival
Winner – Documentary Feature Audience Award, American Film Festival
Nominated – Best Documentary, Gotham Independent Film Award
Post-Screening Dialogue
Many of us accumulate baggage in ourselves as we proceed on in life. The post-screening dialogue explores how inmates could be free while those outside the bars could be imprisoned. It looks at the transformation process when one can transcend our personal baggage.
Speakers: SULYNN CHOONG, TANG BEK WUAY, ADA WONG
Details:
23 March (Sat), 7.30PM
@ The Projector
Dir. Sung Hsin-Yin 宋欣颖
2017 / Animation / Taiwan / 109 mins / Mandarin, Hokkien with English and Chinese Subtitles / PG
Chi grew up on Happiness Road in Taiwan but has always been living in awe of the USA. Eventually her dreams became reality when she got the opportunity to move to the USA.
However, Chi’s dream move didn’t turn out the way she hoped it would. She became lost in her seemingly happy life. On a trip home for her grandmother’s funeral, Chi stumbles into classmates and friends from years gone by. She begins to feel nostalgic about her childhood and starts to question her own supposed happiness. As Chi starts to redefine her own happiness with a trip down memory lane, she begins to contemplate the meaning of ‘life’ and ‘home’.
Awards:
Winner – Best Animation Feature, Golden Horse Film Festival 2018
Winner – Best Animation, Taipei Film Festival 2018
Winner – Taipei Grand Award, Taipei Film Festival 2018
Winner – Audience Choice Award, Taipei Film Festival 2018
Winner – Best Animated Feature, Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2018
Nominated – Best Animated Feature Film, Asia Pacific Screen Award
Nominated, Best Screenplay, China Media Film Awards
Post-Screening Dialogue
Are there moments in our life that we don’t know why we are doing what we are doing? The post-screening dialogue explores something close to the hearts of many people – what is our meaning and purpose in life?
Speakers: SIMON LEOW, STEPHEN LEW, YEO SHA-EN, MARK BAILDON
24 March (Sun), 11AM
@ Aliwal Arts Centre
If you have been caught in a race not knowing where you are going, this experience may shed some light on how to develop a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life.
Join us for in this two hour experience where we will share a introduction of the current science and research behind meaning and purpose.
What we will cover:
1. What is meaning and purpose?
2. Where does our purpose come from?
3. What can we do to find purpose?
Details:
24 March (Sun), 2PM
@ The Projector
Dir. Matt D’Avella
2016 / Documentary / USA / 78 mins / English / Rating TBC
How might your life be better with less?
MINIMALISM: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker—all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less.
Post-Screening Dialogue
Can we find happiness in things and possessions? This post-screening dialogue explores the idea that letting go of things and possessions may be one of the ways that makes us happier.
Speakers: VERONICA CHUA, JOAN CHONG, HENG SIOK TIAN
The Speakers
(Click image for infos)
