Most of the people who call the happiest place on Earth their home, live without electricity and plumbing. Roads are a new convenience. And for cities where there is electricity, the citizens have only been able to tune in a TV since 1999, which also was the same year they first went online.

But in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, population 700,000, the people's emotional well-being is driven by a government policy that replaced national prosperity with "gross national happiness."

If at first that sounds quirky, then you're on the same page with Maui filmmaker Tom Vendetti. He was preparing a documentary on Bhutan's hydroelectric power system — yes, the country exports power to India even though many of its own people have none — when he discovered Bhutan's way of life.

The result is "Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness," a new film that offers a look at a remote and beautiful Shangri-La. "Bhutan" is being shown this month for the first time, with screenings on Maui, Kaua'i and O'ahu.

"Originally, I was skeptical," said Vendetti, a co-producer and the director of the film. "When I got back from Bhutan, I became a believer that these people were truly on to something. I thought it could be a model for world leaders."

The 55-year-old Vendetti has made films and videos for 15 years, balancing his love of making them with his job as a psychologist. He's an administrator for the state's Adult Mental Health Division in Maui County.

He's filmed in Tibet, Fiji, Africa and Cambodia.

"I try to combine human-interest stories and psychology that will have an impact on the world, if possible," he said. "It is a real passion, and it's gratifying for me. People say, 'I watched one of your films and it changed my life.' "

A BUDDHIST NATION

In Bhutan, which he and his Hawai'i film crew visited in October and November 2004, Vendetti discovered a way of governing that seeks to preserve the nation's culture and its natural resources while at the same time creating sensible economic growth.

It succeeds, or so it seems, because the country and its people adhere to Buddhist teachings, Vendetti said. All forms of life and the environment are sacred. The government would rather build one of its hydroelectric power plants four stories underground, for example, than chop down a tree.

When its leaders talk about happiness, they're not talking about laughter or money, Vendetti said. They're talking about being content, about growing their own food and nurturing the relationships of extended families.

"As I went around interviewing locals and talking to people, they were all on the same page," he said. "It surprised me. It seemed to me they were all committed to that as a nation."

But Bhutan is changing.

When new power plants were built at the bottom of snow-capped mountain peaks, they brought progress: roads, electricity and almost 50 cable channels, said Thinley Choden, a 29-year-old Bhutan native now studying at the East-West Center.

The Bhutanese went from nothing to CNN, "American Idol" and "Sex in the City," said Choden, who served as a liaison between the filmmakers and the country where she was raised.

The effects were undeniable, even in a nation in which 90 percent of the people continue to live as they have for centuries — as subsistence farmers.

Many city youths now dress in western hip-hop fashion and use American slang, Choden said. They know what bling is, and they have some, too.

And high school boys are forming gangs.

"I think people at large were not ready in terms of awareness, for the Internet and television, and the effects it had on society," Choden said. "It leaves me sad and happy at the same time. Sad to see the young people looking at these things without actually thinking what they mean, and happy that at least they experienced it. Hopefully, this is just a phase."

MEASURABLY HAPPY

Despite modernization and the changes it is bringing to her country, Choden is convinced the Bhutanese are happy. She even has a way to measure that.

When Choden describes it, she sounds like she's describing Hawai'i's sense of 'ohana.

"I think I know that they are happy based on the relationships that still exist among people," she said. "And the social safety network that is still very strong and vibrant between people. The ability for Bhutanese to navigate between the communal and individualism. You think for yourself, yet you think for others."

Robert Stone, a cinematographer and editor for the film, said people who have viewed the film's trailer are deeply affected. They see a country trying to help its people, and a people trying to help each other.

"They are going, 'Man, this turned my head all around. I have to re-think my whole life,' " Stone said. "This is a spiritual experience that we are having in the physical world. I think there is a deep spiritual message there."

But the quirky thing about being happy in Bhutan is that some of its people aren't quite sure what has made them feel so good.

"If you ask the Bhutanese in the remote areas if they know about gross national happiness, nine out of 10 probably have never heard of it," Stone said. "They say, 'No, but I'm pretty happy. What are you talking about?' "

Correction: The Honolulu Academy of Arts conservationist is Eddie Jose. An incorrect name was given in a box with a previous version of this story.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.