BFFE - The Departure
Lana Wilson / US, JP, 2017 / 97 min.
Ittetsu Nemoto, a 44-year-old Tokyo native and former punk, loves riding his motorcycle and dancing all night in clubs. But he’s also a Rinzai Zen priest, who lives with his wife, mother and baby son at a temple in the remote Japanese countryside, where he has become famous for his work in combating suicide.
Nemoto”s approach is unique, including one on one counselling, parties, camping trips and experimental art projects. In his signature workshop, “The Departure,” participants imagine their own death. But his work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between his patients 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? A poetic and deeply moving film that contemplates death as a way of better understanding how we should live.
BFFE 2018 opening film with ceremony.
Details
Director
Lana Wilson
Production year
2017
Country
US, JP
Original title
BFFE - The Departure
Length
97 min.
Language
Japanese
Subtitles
ENG
Format
DCP
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