Free Advanced Screening of "Departures"

SDAFF Members only "Members Bring a Friend" Night on Wednesday, May 27

Winner of 10 Japan Academy Awards including Best Picture
Winner 2009 Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film

Open to members whose memberships are up to date by May 27. If you are not a member, you can become one now!

Members will receive an online invitation with details and must RSVP by May 24. Members are encouraged to bring a friend who is not currently a member. Seating is limited!

If you have questions about the screening or membership, please contact mye@sdaff.org.

Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, "Departures" is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage. "Departures" follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. A story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the transcending human spirit, "Departures" will linger in your heart and mind long after viewing.

"Departures" opens June 5 at Landmark's La Jolla Village.

Official film web site: www.departures-themovie.com