Kingdom of Bhutan: The Land of Hidden Treasures

From the Bhutanese wilderness, scientist and yeti-hunter Mark Evans hears fresh reports of new sightings; Mark mounts a considerable expedition into the Himalayas and takes his search for the yeti further than ever before.

Bhutan, despite being one of the world's two carbon negative countries, suffers from a changing climate that has led to a disastrous water shortage. After his children leave him, Daw, an elderly Bhutanese villager, must fend for himself. 83 AND ALONE explores a community made empty because of water.

The Dragon House portrays the confrontation between tradition and modernity which the Kingdom of Bhutan is currently experiencing. This is done by means of two Bhutanese characters: a young Buddhist monk, heir to the local tradition, and the first disc jockey to dare to play House and Techno music in the small Himalayan kingdom.

Bhutan is known as the last Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom and one of the happiest places on earth. 'Crossing Bhutan' tells the story of four veteran athletes and their journey to explore Bhutan’s enigmatic policy of Gross National Happiness by making the first 485-mile, border-to-border crossing of this isolated kingdom entirely by foot and bike.

The Frisian singer Linde Nijland was always fond of the combination of traveling and singing. An invitation to listen to a concert in honor of the coronation of the fifth king of Bhutan was the ideal occasion in 2008 to make a months-long journey through South East together with multi-instrumentalist Bert Ridderbos.

Buddhist monk and photographer Matthieu Picard as he returns to the Asian country in the Himalayas where he spent a decade after seven years away, revisiting breathtaking landscapes and experiencing local traditions.

Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon the world will come to him: the village is about to be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki's eyes.

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.

Four monks, a royal scholar, and their American guru are fighting to save Bhutan's sacred arts while learning the art of letting go.

Ultramarathon runners Ben Clark, Anna Frost and Tim Olson travel to Bhutan's high Himalayan landscape to try and set a speed record on the world's hardest trek.

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.

This amateur film captures the Maharajah of Bhutan watching the marking of the Assam/Bhutan boundary, as well as fantastic scenes of elephants bathing on the Manas River, which flows through the Himalayan foothills.

The film opens with general views and shows building works and Sherpas loading up. Scenes of threshing and a campsite, with Sherpas and huts. A settlement is then shown, including people weaving. Scenes of walking in towards the mountains and climbing in the foothills. More threshing scenes and the film ends with shots of the mountains and village.

It was only in the 2000s that the population of Bhutan discovered television and the Internet, as well as the first democratic elections. Near the capital Thimphou, one of the fastest-developing cities in Southeast Asia, live some 20,000 nomadic yak herders.

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.

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