Indies & Arties: Leave It Behind

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Leaving It Behind
When cellist Daigo Kobiyashi (Masahiro Motoki) loses his job with an orchestra, he is frustrated at loose ends. So he moves back to his hometown and takes a job, unwittingly, as a "nokanshi," one who prepares the dead for their journey to whatever is next. "Departures," last year's surprise Oscar winner for best foreign film, tracks Daigo's own journey into finding peace and compassion in his death-drenched job and whole new life.
» E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW; opens Fri., June 19; 202-452-7672. (Metro Center)

Continental Divide
The Salute to le Festival des 3 Continents series (also at the Embassy of France and the National Gallery of Art) soldiers on at the Freer Gallery through June 28, but this Sunday's lineup features two unmissable movies and appearances at each by Alain Jalladeau, co-founder of the festival. On Sunday at 1 p.m., Amos Gitai's "Devarim" screens, a film about Israel's "lost generation" of disenchanted and disenfranchised youth. At 3 p.m., Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman's "Chronicle of a Disappearance" offers a moving and comical view of Palestinian life.
» Freer Gallery, Jefferson Drive & 12th Street NW; Sun. June 21, 1 & 3 p.m., free tickets distributed one hour before film begins; 202-633-4880. (Smithsonian)

Photo courtesy Regent Releasing