A new documentary film called Masters of Joy, which is part of the cross-media Happiness project by the Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) in Europe, will premiere on March 20, 2023, through Hope Channel Inter-America as well as other Hope media channels around the world. The film has been awarded the Best Feature Documentary by the Boden International Film Festival in Sweden.
Masters of Joy shows the life of five children from five different countries and how they understand happiness. Filmed in Nepal, Mexico, Bolivia, The United States, and Iceland, the documentary came about within the Happiness project meetings, and the desire to show happiness through the eyes of a child, said Lizbeth Elejalde, program director of Hope Channel Inter-America.
Elejalde, who wrote, directed, and edited Masters of Joy, said she was inspired by the ability that children have to be happy no matter where they are. “I hope this documentary lets viewers see that for children, far from material things, happiness is a state of mind,” she said.
The 37-minute documentary project took 10 months to complete, including fine-tuning the script, inviting other media centers to be part of the project, and choosing each character, as well as post-production, said Elejalde. Producers included Michael Moyer who filmed in Tennessee, Binod Dahar Kumal who filmed in Nepal, Evelyn Velinova who filmed in Bolivia, Uriel Castellanos who filmed in Chiapas, Mexico, and Griselda Rosales who filmed in Iceland.
“It’s amazing to see how this collaborative work allows you to enrich content that we create, without elevating costs, and allows opportunities for local production teams in different parts of the world,” said Elejalde.
Scheduled to be released on the International Day of Happiness on March 20th, as designated by the United Nations, Masters of Joy had a special premiere in Chiapas, Mexico, on Feb. 19, 2023, during the church’s GAiN Chiapas event. More than 1,500 cheered on Iker, the five-year-old boy from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, who, along with his parents, were special guests during the viewing of the film.
Previously, a soft launch of the film was viewed in Bucharest during GAiN Europe event in October.
“I’m so excited to see the final product after seeing the idea on paper,” said Adrián Duré, network projects coordinator and producer at Hope Media Europe. When the idea of the project was presented to him, Duré soon saw a great potential because he knew children, regardless of culture, context, and circumstances, would show their natural and innocent way as happy as they are and how they understand happiness.
The film is a clear example of a great collaboration where each team contributes, where each culture has its space, where values are highlighted and where unity and a common objective brings about teamwork, explained Duré.
“‘Masters of Joy’ is one of the pillars of the cross-media ‘Happiness’ project, since it offers a production that covers a specific target, includes children, and highlights and promotes the value of family,” said Duré. The film is a complement and perhaps on the other extreme to the “700 Years of Happiness” series that aims to integrate the elderly in the overall project, he added. “Both documentary productions complement each other very well, giving visibility and prominence to two generations: children and the elderly.”
About Happiness
The idea to focus on the notion of happiness was born out of a vote by GAiN participants after a brainstorming session during the virtual event in 2021. The cross-media initiative was created and coordinated by Hope Media Europe, the Inter-European Division (EUD), and the Trans-European Division (TED) of the Adventist Church. It also included the cooperation of the Inter-American Division (IAD), the North American Division (NAD), and the South American Division (SAD), GAiN leaders said.
Happiness sets out to explore various aspects of happiness itself. According to Dure, the project’s target audience is broad, and is intended to reach Adventists and Christians from other denominations as well as people of other faiths and secular people. The type of production, format, and genre are all customized to reach specific and varied audiences. “The materials portray the life experiences of people from different cultures who are happy and people who show those values that are important for them to live happily beyond their circumstances,” Dure said. “It is a project that highlights positive values, cultural diversity, hope, and faith.”
