Thirty-Three Happy Moments

The experimental short film that is inspired by 17th century Chinese writer Chin Shengtang and telling the story of thirty three brief but happy moments in life .

Jin Shengtan was a Chinese editor, writer and critic, who has been called the champion of written Chinese literature. “Third three happy moments” is a list he composed when he found himself shut in a temple during a rainstorm with a friend for ten days.

Jin’s description of the happy moments of his life is an important proposition that in human life, the mental and the physical pleasures are inextricably tied up together. The film argue that we could also add the moral pleasures to this list.

What is happiness, anyhow? The film suggests that it is vitally connected with our senses, rather than our intellect. A group of friends playing music together, the smell of a food, a caterpillar’s unexpected travel, suddenly appeared raindrops, birds tweeting, releasing the grief or a child’s telling a never ending story… Could they all be counted as happiness?

So in this experimental short film version of the Jin’s notes we will look from the director’s perspective as we follow the real footages of her life and try to break the abstract scene of happiness. This will hopefully give us a chance to analyze for ourselves what are the truly happy moments of our life.