ARTES LIBERALES
A few words about the film
This is the story of a five-year-old boy, Hasan, who lives alone on the streets of New Delhi selling clockwork chicken. Driven by a firm belief that some mysterious secret lies hidden and awaiting discovery, he playfully seeks it out and finally finds it in the sequence of five ̶the number of the letters in his name. Hasan’s faith in the attainability of happiness presents him with a gift: the key to one of life’s greatest secrets. And the secret is, in the words of ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, that “Happiness depends upon ourselves”.
However, Counting Happiness is not just a character-driven drama or a children’s adventure story. It is a real life portrayal of millions of beautiful children who live on the streets, of their dreams and their innocence as they explore life.
Written and directed by Venetia Evripiotou, it was shot on a Canon Mark II 5D on location in the picturesque corners of the old city of Delhi.
Meet the film's Team
Counting Happiness is a short film (Running time:12':18'') that represents a unique perspective on filmmaking, especially in the ways its subject was selected and portrayed. Two visions come together, from two different ends of the world: the West meets the East. The Greek Director realized the ease with which she could work upon the subject with her Indian crew. In fact, this film, an interstate, Greek-Indian co-production, did not need a western or Indian way of looking; all it took was an eye to see through a child’s heart, which can never be defined by any geographical or cultural differences.
Written & Directed - Venetia Evripiotou (Greece)
Director of Photography - Abbas Shamael Rizvi (India)
Editor - Avik Chatterjee (India)
Music Composed by - Yiorgos Magoulas (Greece )
Sound - Amit Chatterjee (India)
Production company- Dassera Art Space
Production Head -Najmus Saqib
Starring: Satyam Singh (Hasan) and Shakir Adeel (the barber)
