HAPPY PILLS
SWITZERLAND 81 MIN, 2022
RUSSIAN PREMIERE
ABOUT
A journey through six different countries and characters into a world where chemistry is the ultimate response to human pursuits of well-being. From antidepressants to opioids pain or stimulant medication, the film questions our whole consumer society and the so-called Eldorado of prescribed happiness.
DIRECTOR
ARNAUD ROBERT
ARNAUD ROBERT (b. 1976) is a Swiss journalist, director and an author of several books. His work has been published in National Geographic, Le Monde, Le Temps, La Repubblica, Néon, Les Inrockuptibles, and Vibrations.
He is a regular contributor to Radio Télévision Suisse.
He has directed three documentaries (Bamako is a Miracle, Bondyé Bon and Gangbé!). His films have won awards at the Vues d’Afrique festival in Montreal and at the Jean Rouch Festival in Paris. His most recent medium-length film was selected for official competition at Visions du Réel, but also in Agadir, Guadalajara, New York, Neubrandenburg, Moscow, Saint-Louis of Senegal, etc.
Arnaud Robert has notably been awarded the Jean-Dumur Journalism Prize, the Francophone Public Radio Prize and, in 2020, the Swiss Press Award.
PAOLO WOODS
PAOLO WOODS (1970) is a Canadian-Dutch photographer based in Florence, Italy. His focus is on long-term projects that combine photography with investigative journalism. He has published books on the oil industry, the wars of George W. Bush, Iran and the rise of the Chinese presence in Africa.
In 2011, Woods moved to Haiti. Working with director and journalist Arnaud Robert, he has published two books about the island, STATE and PEPE. Then, together with photographer Gabriele Galimberti, for three years he focused on tax havens. The work that resulted from this investigation was shown at an exhibition at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles.
The most important publications in the world (Time, Le Monde, The Guardian, National Geographic, etc.) regularly publish his photographs. His images feature in numerous public and private collections around the world.
He is also the recipient of two World Press Photos awards.
OTHER FESTIVALS
- Festival dei Popoli, Italy
- Trondheim Dokumentarfestival, Norway
- Solothurn Film Festival, Switzerland
- Victoria Film Festival, Canada
- One World Prague, Czech Republic
- Global Science Film Festival, Switzerland
SECTION
Doker 2023 — Dok Therapy