A Canadian couple shooting a documentary on happiness in Paris found themselves in the midst of terror last week.
As Islamic State-linked jihadists set off explosions and opened fire on civilians, Torontonians Angelo Dodaro, 28, and Kelsey Cole, 27, were headed to a bar just a few blocks from the Bataclan concert hall, the site of a deadly hostage-taking.
With the streets blocked off and confusion rampant, the pair began filming the chaos alongside an impromptu crush of media.
When an American journalist asked what they were shooting, Dodaro explained the documentary project, called “Charting Happiness,” which explores issues of depression and mental health around the world.
“He said, ‘Well, today is your lucky day. You’ve just stumbled onto the war on happiness,'” Dodaro told CTVNews.ca from Paris.
In a moment, the scope of their film changed.
“That really sent a shockwave through us. It made us realize that there’s more than situational anxiety affecting our happiness. There are world conflicts that are holding us back globally, not just the conflicts within our own minds,” he said.
The couple has since interviewed several Parisians affected by the attacks, including a man who narrowly escaped a bombing outside the Stade de France.
“The perspective shift has just been huge for us,” Dodaro said.
A three-month state of emergency was declared in France last Saturday, with sweeping new powers now granted to security forces. Dodaro said it’s become commonplace to undergo a thorough security check before entering public places such as supermarkets, hotels and restaurants.
And yet, in the aftershock of the terror, Dodaro says he’s still found glimmers of happiness.
“The French are very resilient. Knowing their way of life is being attacked, I’ve seen this thing come out of them. They’re almost stronger. They’re saying, you’re not going to take our ‘joie de vive.’ You’re not going to take that away from us.”
The idea for the film grew from the couple’s own struggles with mental illness. Both had successful careers in marketing in Toronto, but despite the success, they each struggled with serious bouts of depression.
“We both decided we needed to figure out what happiness is and how we can achieve that,” Dodaro said.
Their global quest has spanned several continents and includes visits to Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Nepal, India, Malaysia and Burma.
The documentary is meant to be “an ongoing journey,” Dodaro says, and will unfold online in YouTube videos and a blog. It may also be compiled into a longer format, he said.
Dodaro said the most powerful moment in the project came earlier this week, when they visited a heavily-guarded mosque in the heart of Paris to hand out yellow roses.
“We said that we just want to give you a little bit of sunshine,” Dodaro said. “They were hugging us, bringing us tea, they just wanted to talk …and it was incredible to see and hear their stories.”
