** Followed by a facilitated discussion with Jennifer Barron and Kristen Spexarth from Forefront Suicide Prevention, and Sangha members from the Seattle Buddhist Center **

Ittetsu Nemoto, a former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between those he counsels and himself. The Departure captures Nemoto at a crossroads, when his growing self-destructive tendencies lead him to confront the same question his patients ask him: what makes life worth living?

The second documentary by award-winning director Lana Wilson (After Tiller), The Departure is a poetic and deeply moving film that contemplates death as a way of better understanding how we should live.

“Many movies strive to address what human beings owe to one another by way of compassion and commitment … but The Departure delves into them with real depth and authenticity…” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post