In late October, the Beechmont Business & Enterprise Network (BBEN) in collaboration with renewable energy company Nickel Energy screened the award-winning documentary “The Economics of Happiness” at Binna Burra Lodge. Beechmont was the fourth Scenic Rim community to screen the film this year and word is spreading quickly through our region about the quality and inspiration of the film.
Five years in the making, The Economics of Happiness is a global tour-de-force—going beyond identifying problems, it outlines realistic solutions to our most serious crises. Localisation, the film argues, is a powerful strategy to help repair our damaged ecosystems, our societies and ourselves. The film draws inspiration from the emerging worldwide movement for economic localization—urban gardens in Detroit, Transition Towns, hands-on education in Japan, community farming in India, cultural preservation in Peru.
The film has received rave reviews and generated enormous interest around the world. Venues at launch events in early 2011—in North America, Europe and Asia—were packed (in some cases as many as 500 people had to be turned away). Launched in early 2011, the documentary has already been translated into over seven languages.
The Economics of Happiness features acclaimed economists, environmentalists and scholars including Vandana Shiva, Zac Goldsmith, Bill McKibben, David Korten, Juliet Schor, Richard Heinberg, Bhutanese film director Khyentse Norbu, and the first Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Samdhong Rinpoche.
"A powerful film that cuts deeply to the heart of the global crisis. Magnificent!" says David Suzuki, television presenter and environmentalist.
Author and philosopher Joanna Macy writes: “It is good news indeed to find so persuasive an explanation of our ailing world as The Economics of Happiness. This film connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering—stress, loneliness, and depression.”
The film is available for purchase and personal use at: www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org
