Terra incognita for centuries, the Kingdom of Bhutan has long figured in our imaginations as a Shangri-La, evoking that Eden-like mythical Buddhist city popularized by James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, and in particular by Capra’s 1939 film version.

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.'