"Happiness," a new documentary by the Frenchman Thomas Balmes, shines a light on the power and risks of the small screen.
In 1999, authorities in Bhutan -- which famously measures prosperity by gauging its citizens' happiness, not GDP -- decided, after much reflection, to allow television and the Internet into the tiny landlocked country sandwiched between China and India.
But the village of Laya, which is two days by foot from the nearest road, had to wait more than a decade more before electricity arrived.
"The idea was to make a film about television. And I even thought for a time about coming to make it in the United States," he told AFP at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where the documentary had its release.
Also Read
"I am constantly surprised by how few films there are about screens, whether smartphones, televisions or computers," he added.
The documentary tells the story through the eyes of Peyangki, an eight-year-old who is "practically the only person who had never left the village. That made him even more of a virgin in terms of experiencing electricity and television," said Balmes.
Balmes wanted to show the transformative power in the village -- both positive and negative -- of a medium which is now ubiquitous in the developed world.
"The huge problem with television, even without talking about what's on it, is that it becomes an invasive force," he said.
"With 'Happiness,' I show... How naturally that is accepted... Today, if you go back to Laya, there isn't a child who plays bow and arrow in the street. They're all in front of the television, and don't do anything else.