幸福五年计划

Happiness, a five-year plan

a film by janna holmstedt and karin wegsjÖ

Synopsis

A small village in Småland, the Astrid Lindgren heartland of Sweden. The Chinese Commission on the Future disembarks. They’ve done their research. Sweden holds a seventh place, with China far down the scale at 112th. We’re talking about happiness, a word that with growing frequency is touted by politicians and economists alike. But can happiness really be measured? Simultaneously, in a city in the south of China a group of young people, all wearing blindfolds, grope their way out of their doors and onto the streets. They move one by one, as if on a given signal. Is it some kind of silent protest? Is it the enactment of a dream? Or an absurd attempt to do the impossible?

This film weaves documentary and fiction, poetry and traditional dialogue. The story is set in the framework of a visit by an expert commission sent from China to Sweden to study happiness. The commission’s observations are certainly not what anyone would have expected. And in this parti-cular, neglected Swedish village, with its diminishing population, one member of the commission suddenly discovers a world of possibilities.

The manuscript is partly based on texts by artists Luo Fei, He Libin, Lei Yan, Cheng Liangchun, Su Yabi and Sun Guojuan; who also appear in the film.

DIRECTORS' STATEMENT

There are things that can’t be put into words. Even when one has the right to speak openly, there are many experiences that are difficult to dress in language. An action in a particular context can speak volumes, even though no single word is uttered. And sometimes poetry speaks with greater strength and definition than any description or explanation. Whether or not you are an artist or a documentary filmmaker, this is something you will always need to come to terms with; the vagaries of language. While not ignoring the fact that we live in a media landscape that rewards the simple message, the image that sells.This film is a hybrid, a weave of materials both documentary and staged. It toys with clichés - our ingrained picture of Sweden, our picture of China. It blends a commercial language currently in fashion with the language of bureaucracy and then with poetry. This is a film grown out of a col-laboration with six Chinese artists. Their texts form the undercurrent in the river of images, sound, action and voices that make up the other components of this film. Relax and flow with it. Which reality is more real?

production notes

THE WORD ON EVERY TONGUE

Suddenly everyone seemed to be talking about happiness. The word leapt off the pages of life style magazines and entered the realms of political and economic debate. The United Nations ordered a ”World Happiness Report” and convened a Happiness Conference. The Guardian wrote about

”The serious business of creating a happier world” and the need for a redefinition of the concept of growth. Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt’s, Future Commission explored new methods to define and quantify the national welfare.This was in 2012 and we, director Karin Wegsjö and artist Janna Holmstedt, were on our way to Kunming in China. It quickly became obvious that this wasn’t merely a European trend. Several Chinese papers reported demands from a growing middle class, that values other than the strictly economical must receive attention. If not, they would consider leaving the country. This, in several provinces, resulted in the establishment of a happiness index in which success, prosperity and the achievements of local politicians could be measured. Local rulers promised their citizens not only more money in their pockets, but happier lives to go along with it.

Is all this talk about happiness some sort of political bait, or is it an honest and serious attempt to face the social challenges of our times? For the Communist Party of China it is obviously a new strategy for retaining power. But regardless of the purpose, how can one define, measure or regu-late something as subjective as happiness? With what vocabulary can we capture a concept so fluid and so complex? Has ”happiness” become yet another commodity that needs to be price tagged before we can value it? These were some of the questions we wished to investigate during our trip to China. Our film can be seen as a poetic articulation of a global experience, as acutely felt in the Swedish countryside as in a Chinese metropolis.

The idea to make this film came through meeting Luo Fei, He Libin, Lei Yan, Cheng Liangchun, Su Yabi and Sun Guojuan in Kunming. Collaboration was initiated. Several of these artists worked with performance and for that reason we began to create ”event scores” on the theme of happiness. An event score (sometimes also called “proposal piece”) is a kind of performance instruction, a score describing a series of activities to be performed, used by artists since the 1960’s, the most well known being those of Yoko Ono. We gave our colleagues instructions and they gave us instruc-tions; steeped in the awareness that restrictions concerning what could be said and done publically differed greatly in our respective countries. Through interpretation, association and travel between China and Sweden, this film took form. The manuscript is partly based on our event scores; some possible and some impossible to realize, some with a political edge, others relying solely on the evocative power of poetry. All the artists, with the unfortunate exception of Sun Guojuan who was refused an entry visa for Sweden, are featured in the film. Today, research in the field of happiness is hotter than ever and the hunt continues to find a ”hap-piness index” that will replace GDP as the measure of a nation’s wealth.

www.happinessafiveyearplan.com

www.nu-institutet.org

BIOGRAPHIES AND FILMOGRAPHY

Karin WegsjÖ Karin Wegsjö received her education at The Dramatic Institute in Stockholm. She is the author of a large number of short features and documentary films which have been screened both at home and abroad; among others the Guldbagge award nominated film Bucharest’s Discreet Charm and the Guldbagge and Golden Gate award winning short film “A Part of the World that is Yours”. Wegsjö also directs for the stage. She has taught at The Dramatic Institute and at Konstfack. Wegsjö is the initiator and artistic director for the science film festival, FILM & SCIENCE, at The Nobel Mu-seum and author/director of celebrated films about Albert Einstein and Alfred Nobel for the same museum. Karin Wegsjö was the 2012 recipient of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s 10-year stipend. www.wegsjo.se

Filmography and Awards

2014 ”A Film about Graphene”, short science, 9 min.2013 ”Don’t Count Me Out!”, documentary, 58 min.2008 ”The Price of Food” and ”Doubts”, shorts 2x 3 min.2008 ”Life, Love and Paris, an interview with Mr Nobel”, fiction, 17 min. 2006 ”The Longing of Leda”, short, 8 min.2005 ”Dinner with Albert Einstein”, 22 min.2001 ”For Unto Everyone Who Has More Will Be Given. A Film about Cambridge”, short, 10 min.1999 ”Part of a World That Belongs To You - a Cow Film”, short, 10 min.1997 ”The Discreet Charm of Bucharest”, documentary, 40 min.

Swedish National Award 2000 for Best Short Film; Best Short, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic; Best Short, Archipelago, Rome, Italy; Golden Gate Award, USA. Best Short, Kiev, Ukraine; Honorary Jury Mention, Gava, Spain; Nominated for the Swedish National Film Award 1999; DaKino’s Docu-mentary Prize, Romania.

Karin WegsjÖ and

Janna Holmstedt

JANNA HOLMSTEDTJanna Holmstedt is an internationally active artist with a working base in Stockholm. She works across different media such as performance, installation, web-based projects, mappings, writing, and sound. Her work also incorporates different collaborative projects using public space as an arena.Her performance and installation productions often straddle the border between art and theatre. In her work there is no privileged position or full view. There is no audience and no actors. There isn’t even any artwork unless you activate it and set it in motion. As a visitor, you are invited to explore the experience of being situated and responsive, where exformation is called into play and normality is questioned.Holmstedt received in 2007 The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s 2-year working stipend. She has been awarded a number of international artist residencies and has exhibited work and initiated art projects in Sweden, USA, Estonia, Finland, China, Germany, Russia and Argentina. Her perfor-mance pieces have recently been shown at Weld, Stockholm; Inter Arts Centre and Teatr Weimar, Malmö; PSi#19, Stanford University, California. Holmstedt is presently a Ph.D. Candidate in Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts, Umeå University / Malmö Art Academy, Lund University. www.jannaholmstedt.com

NU-INSTITUTETNu-institutet [the Now Institute] is an independent and non-political organization dedicated to the investigation contemporary society with art as an interdisciplinary tool. Nu-institutet was founded in 2009 and produces art, film, and theatre. Nu-institutet’s projects have over the years received support from The Swedish Arts Council, The Foundation for Future Culture, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, The City of Stockholm Cultural Fund, The Swedish Film Institute and Sveriges Television. www.nu-institutet.org

CONTACT

Press/PR

Ylva Swedenborg/Cinema Swedenylva@cinemasweden.com+46 (0)8 98 38 48

Nu-institutet

Karin Wegsjö Janna Holmstedtkarin@nu-institutet.org janna@nu-institutet.org+46 (0)70 781 13 72 +46 (0)709 700 710

Technical and artistical fact sheet

Original title Happiness, a Five-Year Plan

Production year 2014

Format HD, DCP, DVD

Sound 5.1, Stereo

Genre Drama/Experimental

Duration 14 minutes

Language Chinese

Subtitles English, Swedish, Chinese

Production Company Nu-institutet

With support from the Swedish Film Institute/Andra Lasmanis and the Swedish Arts Grants Committe

In collaboration with SVT/Short Film

Copyright © 2014 Karin WegsjÖ and Janna Holmstedt/Nu-institutet

Writer, Director and Producer Karin WegsjÖ and Janna Holmstedt

Poems and Event Scores Luo Fei, Lei Yan, He Libin, Su Yabi, Cheng Lianchung, Sun Guojuan

Director of Photography Inu Enescu (SE), Wang Bang Ji, Huang Shun (CH )

Editor Sascha FÜlscher

Music Magnus Andersson Lagerqvist, Lisa NordstrÖm, Midaircondo

Lead Cast Luo Fei, Cheng Lianchung, He Libin, Lei Yan, Su Yabi

Supporting Cast Huang Shun, Xiaolin Zhu, Liu Jin, Wu Yuequan, Jin Xiaoyun, Sha Yurong, Zhu Shilin,

Hou Yi, Wang Kui, Wang Mengjun, Chang Changxin, Reng Yuheng, Zhang Caiyun, Shi Kejian, Zhou Tao,

Josef MellergÅrd, Janna Holmstedt, Bruno Ullstad WegsjÖ

Production and Costume Designer Janna Holmstedt and Karin WegsjÖ

Sound Technician Calle Buddee Roos

Production Manager Xiaolin Zhu (CH)

Production Coordinator Anna Mellergård (SE), Wu Yuerong (CH)

Assistant Director Huang Shun (CH)

Additional Camera Karin WegsjÖ, Janna Holmstedt, Sascha FÜlscher

Sound Assistant Lu Hayan (CH)

Production Assistant and Continuity Andrea Calbet Bellman (SE), Josef Mellergård (CH)

Translator on Set Luo Fei (SE), Xiaolin Zhu (CH)

Caterer Linda Jansson, Andreas Bernberg, Rebecka Mellergård Bernberg

Special Thanks TCG Nordica, Kunming (CH), Stationskooperativ M och KAiM, Mariannelund (SE)

Thanks to Emilkraften, Stadsmissionen Stockholm, Fredrik Larsen och Linda Carlsson

Post-Production Chimney Stockholm

Grading Oskar Larsson

Sound Design and Mix Magnus Andersson LagerqvisT

Marimba Olof Wendel

Violin and Electric Violin Anna Rodell

Voices Yi Zhou, Xiaolin Zhu, Edward Bromberg

Graphic Design Fredrik Andersson

Photography Wang Bang Ji

Press Advisor Ylva Swedenborg

Production Advisor Per JanÉrus

Translations Xiao Diming, BjÖrn Kjellgren, Janna Holmstedt, Xiaolin Zhu

Sound excerpt Anders Borg, Swedish Minister of Finance "A Policy of Happiness", debate in Parlia-

ment, Apr 4, 2011

Quotes taken from "China orders officials to go out and 'make people happy'", The Telegraph, Mar 2,

2011; "World Happiness Report 2012", The Earth Institute, Columbia University, commissioned for the

April 2nd United Nations Conference on Happiness; "Vetandets vÄrld", Vetenskapsradion, Sveriges

Radio, Jul 5, 2010; Mark Williamson (Action for Happiness), reporting from the UN Conference on Hap-

piness, Apr 3, 2012; "What are the economics of happiness?", The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, Apr 5,

2012; "Holiday survey : are you happy?", China Central Television, Sep–Oct 2012.

"Perfect Spot"

Music by Midaircondo

Performed by Malin DahlstrÖm, Lisa NordstrÖm, Lisen Rylander LÖve

© 2005 Type Records

"Although I Heard"

Music by Midaircondo

Performed by Malin DahlstrÖm, Lisa NordstrÖm, Lisen Rylander LÖve

© 2005 Type Records

"At first"

Music by Lisa NordstrÖm

Performed by Lisa NordstrÖm

℗ 2008 Kning Disk