Happiness is £4 Million

An idealistic, young journalist is tasked with profiling China’s biggest real estate speculator. But how can she write a profile about a man whose money-obsessed worldview she despises?

Cici, a young journalist in Beijing, is beginning her first real assignment. In order to complete her training period, she must write an article profiling Ou, one of China’s biggest real estate speculators. Through a series of prickly interviews, she challenges Ou and his worldview, meanwhile he questions her naivety and idealism. Their divergent life experiences and clashing values reveal the deep generational and societal shifts happening in contemporary China.

As a peek inside both the journalistic and documentary process, what makes this film particularly special is the honesty with which Cici reveals her emotional investment, her biases, and her many doubts.

This film will screen as part of the short film compilation Myths of Objectivity.