Mission: JOY
Finding Happiness in Troubled Times
Deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny, Mission: JOY is a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them. They offer neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy, despite circumstances.
Inspired by New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, the film showcases the exchange between these two Nobel Peace Prize winners that led to that book.
Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane.
Mission: Joy is an antidote for the times.
Director
Peggy Callahan & Louie Psihoyos
Producer
Peggy Callahan, Ben Fritz, Michael M. McGuire, and Mark Monroe
Runtime
90 minutes
Rights Represented
Educational Rights, International Rights, Sponsored Screening Licenses Available
Captions Available
English
Language
English
Press
“When you are kind to someone else, you end up being joyful, but why? Because we realize that we are made for goodness.”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“You see, usually everybody seeks happiness – joyfullness – but from outside. From money, from power, from big car, from big house. Ultimate source of happy life – even physical health – inside not outside.”
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Festival & Awards
Official Selection – Tribeca Film Festival