History Channel Documentaries

Buthan: Birth Of A Democracy (2009x47)

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Terra incognita for centuries, Bhutan is now going to become a parliamentary democracy. BHUTAN: BIRTH OF A DEMOCRACY offers background information about this transformation and provides an insight into this nearly unknown society and its beliefs. Filmed over two years, the filmmaker had exclusive access to people and politicians. Bhutan has opened up (a little) and what we hear about it continues to provoke the imagination: a Kingdom with a development policy that is focused on national happiness rather than national product; an economy based on sustainable development; an approach to conservation which designates a third of the country’s area as national parks; and, on top of it all, a King who abdicates in favor of his young son and abandons his prerogatives to establish a parliamentary democracy. Through characters drawn from different elements of Bhutanese society, the film sketches a portrait of this world in transition, this country which has so long chosen to be closed to the world and whose king has provided it with the motto: "Gross national happiness is more important than gross national product."