''Laughology'' is a 2009 documentary film about the contagiousness of human
laughter
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, usually audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laug ...
by Canadian filmmaker and Laughologist
Albert Nerenberg
Albert Nerenberg (born October 13, 1962) is a Canadian independent filmmaker, actor, journalist, hypnotist, and laughologist. His films include ''Stupidity'' (2003), '' Escape to Canada'' (2005), '' Let's All Hate Toronto'' (2007), '' Laughology ...
.
It is the first feature-length documentary about laughter. The documentary makes the case that laughter is the original peace signal and the human ability to share and transmit laughter may have been key to the rise of human civilization. The film chronicles unusual laughter phenomenon such as Holy Laughter, Laughter Parties and the Tanzanian Laughter Epidemic. The film is produced by Elevator Films which operates out of Lac Brome, Quebec, and Cache Film and Television. The film made its world premiere at HotDocs Film Festival in Toronto.
Inspiration
Nerenberg is reported to have conceived the project after a personal tragedy, his then-pregnant partner lost her father to
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
, leaving them gripped with sadness. They started the ''Laughology'' project because they didn't want to pass along their depression to their baby.
Synopsis
''Laughology'' tells the story of how Nerenberg became a Laughologist following a family tragedy and reveals new information about the nature of laughter. Nerenberg travels from Canada to the United States, India, London, and Tanzania in search of his laugh. Some of the elements of the film were chronicled in Nerenberg’s popular series in the Montreal Gazette on Positivity. The film also claims to have found the man with the world's most contagious laugh, Doug Collins. In the film, Collins travels with Nerenberg to London England where the science behind his laugh is tested by the neuroscientific team responsible for proving that laughter is contagious.
''Laughology'' makes the case that the laughter fitness trend has scientific basis. The film features the development of
Laughter Yoga and traces the development of laughter culture to the Inuit of the far north.
Reception
The ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only. '' wrote: "Laughter has never been so thoroughly explored in a film as it is here."
Screenings of the film have been notable as fits of uncontrollable laughter have broken out following the film. Gabor Pertic writing in A&E Vibe described a packed screening at HotDocs International Film Festival in Toronto Canada. "The screening had some of the loudest collective laughs I have ever heard in a movie theatre."
A&E Vibe
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References
External links
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Cache Film and TelevisionHotDocs International Film Festival
{{Albert Nerenberg
2009 films
Canadian documentary films
2009 documentary films
Laughter
Documentary films about mental health
2000s English-language films
Films directed by Albert Nerenberg
2000s Canadian films
English-language documentary films
English-language Canadian films