Nordic - Happiness is a theme based documentary directed by Dr Louis Lam, a medical expeditionist and cultural anthropologist who travels all over the world to tell inspirational stories about the local people and culture, their views about themselves versus the world, and current issues that reflect much wider influences. It explores the meaning and definition of happiness in two Nordic countries, Norway and Denmark, since they have been consistently rated the “happiest” places on earth. It interviews the local people of both countries to see what happiness means to them and whether they are truly happy as suggested by statistics. The films starts with the cold north in Tromsø, Norway and explores what happiness means in subzero temperature. It interviews a local restaurant hostess about her definition of happiness and explores some of the heart warming food as reindeer and whale steaks. It then takes the audience to one of the most expensive cities in the world, Oslo, “Paris of the North”. It interviews a scholar of Peace and Conflicts at the Munch Museum about economic definitions of happiness, but not necessarily emotional definition. It interviews a native Brazilian who immigrated to Oslo to compare her happiness from a warm tropical country to the Nordic cold. The film moves on to Copenhagen, Denmark. It interviews a Danish who had lived in New York for a number of years studying city planning and moved back to Denmark. He talks about the overrating of the happiness index and moves onto the topic of Christiania, a micro-community from the hippie era squatters and drug addicts who formed their own quasi self-controlled anti-government state. It visits one of the oldest amusement park with a teacher from Canada who settled in Denmark, and touches upon the subject of social safety and gun control compared to North American countries. The film finishes back at the museum looking at the painting by Munch, Self Portrait by the Window, with the painter himself aging and coming out from a shell of vanity as the true happiness. The ending music by Kyle Cox is called “Happy On My Own” reflecting the true happiness one can have without dependence on others.

Filmed December 2022.