An original, feature-length documentary exploring Denmark’s secret to happiness.

Hygge, the Danish art of creating joy and coziness in life's everyday moments, exploded in popularity amidst growing division and distrust around the world. But finding hygge in one's own life can be more complicated that it seems. This globe-trotting film presents a surprising, funny, and often philosophical collection of characters who share the meaning of hygge and how to find happiness.

How it all started

We have a core belief at 12 Stars Media - people need community and the best community comes from connecting people in real and simple ways. It’s a good guiding principle for us, but like many purpose and mission statements, it’s pretty broad. We work toward it every day by sharing stories, sparking conversations, and promoting positive change through the videos and films we produce.

In 2017, when we celebrated our tenth anniversary as a company, we asked our team to split up into groups and dream up ways to tackle these goals. Then, we voted using big Post-it notes and dot stickers to help us set clear priorities. One idea rose to the top – our team wanted to produce a documentary that could help change the world.

Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga)

In 2016, just one year earlier, 12 Stars Media cofounders Zach and Rocky visited Denmark to meet with a few clients and potential clients. Right away, they noticed some differences between Denmark and America, beyond the architecture and language. Everything and everyone seemed less busy. In the middle of the workday, people were taking breaks in the park and lying in the grass soaking up the sunshine, not their smartphones. When dining out, a server would almost never bring a bill until asked, encouraging you to stay as long as you like.

This trip is when we learned about the word hygge. Although hygge is often translated as coziness, less than half of Danes believe hygge can be translated at all (according to Meik Wiking, author of "The Little Book of Hygge"). This concept stuck with Rocky and Zach as a back-burner musing for months until our Team Members advocated so strongly for a documentary. The two streams of thought came together instantly, and the idea producing a film that explored the concept of hygge was underway.

Throughout 2017, our team visited and filmed in Manitoba, Canada; London, England; Colorado, USA; and all over Denmark.

Our crew went into this project to make a film that would have a positive impact on the world. Our search for the meaning of hygge and how it impacts Danish culture and the everyday lives of Danes was born out of genuine curiosity. This film represents those things. Our hope is that people who watch Finding Hygge will understand themselves better and will ultimately come to their own conclusions and inspiration. We show the ways Danish natives and those influenced by Danes have embraced hygge as part of their identity and what that means for their society and daily life, but we do not put a precise definition in bold print on the screen.

Like many stories we tell, what is not said might matter the most. How each viewer fills in the blanks for their own life often makes the biggest difference. We try to apply this thinking to every project and sometimes push back on the idea of communicating every detail explicitly. In that way, the Finding may be even more important than the Hygge.