The Kitchen Stove Film Fest continues tonight and tomorrow with showings of Departures, a film by Japanese director Yojiro Takita and winner of the 2009 Oscar for best foreign language film.

The film draws its name from a misunderstanding the audience learns about during the first act: Daigo, an unemployed cellist, responds to an ad for a job in departures, believing he is applying for a position with a travel agency. In fact, the job requires working with the departed, preparing the deceased for viewing prior to cremation. This kind of understated quirkiness streams through Takita’s poignant feature, which covers some serious emotional terrain.

The film opens with a meticulous and beautifully shot scene depicting a rite of passage from this world to the afterlife, in which the newly departed is cleansed, clothed, made up and positioned according to rules prescribed by years of tradition.

When Daigo’s orchestra disbands and he suddenly finds himself out of work, he and his wife make the difficult decision to move to the small town where he grew up. There is a house waiting for them, and they can return to a simpler life.

With limited options available, Daigo takes the job with the mom-and-pop burial company, and so begins his journey into an entirely different lifestyle — one he is reluctant to take up at first, but which ends up teaching him many valuable life lessons. He gradually learns and respects the ancient ritual of nokanshi but the stigma attached to working with the dead alienates him from both his wife and his friends.

Tickets are $10 each and are available at the Penticton Art Gallery (250-493-2928) and the Book Shop (250-492-6661). Limited tickets will be available at the door.

The Kitchen Stove Film Series is an initiative of the Penticton Art Gallery. Broadening the definition of the visual arts to include the medium of film, the series aims to inspire, challenge, educate and entertain while showcasing excellence in the cinematic arts.