doc&talk – The theory of happiness

The theory of happiness
Director: Gregory Gan; 82 minutes; 2014; Russian, English; English subtitles

In a remote village outside the city of Kharkov, Ukraine, a small but passionate group of people are fighting an ideological war. Their weapons? Hoes and shovels, pickaxes and spades turned towards the soil. Their rhetoric? Political poetry meant to enlighten the masses. Their goal? Universal happiness.
Began in the late 1980s under the leadership of a now deceased guru of the movement, Yuri Davidov, group members were recruited as teens, and had to renounce alcohol, drugs and sexual intimacy. The farm on which they now live and work holds a thirty-head cow herd, two horses and several pigs. Recruits begin working 16-hour days and write political poetry in their spare time. They call themselves “PORTOS,” which stands for a “Poetical Association for the Development of A Theory of Universal Happiness.” Debilitated
structures and broken farm implements are all given names; the farm is given the name SPARTA, the latrines are called ‘Stalin’ and ‘Yeltsin.‘ Each member is ranked on a “Pyramid of Happiness.”

Those who are deemed to be less than 50% happy, are considered non-human. The goal of the organization is to achieve eternal happiness, and enter into eternity.
The filmmaker explores what it means to become a participant, gaining acceptance and making friends, then coming to terms with loneliness and loss. In the process, he meets a number of characters whose tell their stories: an overweight young woman vying for
acceptance from the leaders, who becomes his confidante; the leader of the sect, who attempts to exercise his authority; the shepherd, the milklady, the farmhand. Together, they weave a complex story that explores the themes of power and subordination, suffering and happiness.

Moderation: Artem Funk

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