Julia (Tilda Swinton) is an alcoholic. She is a manipulative, unreliable, compulsive liar who is all strung out beneath her still-flamboyant exterior. Between shots of vodka and one-night stands, she gets by on nickel-and-dime jobs. Increasingly lonely, the only consideration she receives comes from her friend Mitch, who tries to help her. But Julia shrugs him off, as her daily alcohol-induced confusion reinforces her sense that life has dealt her a losing hand and that she is not to blame for the mess she has made of it. Glimpsing imminent perdition, and after a chance encounter with a Mexican woman named Elena, Julia convinces herself—as much in panic and despair as for financial gain—to commit a violent act. Although her journey becomes a headlong flight on a collision course, Julia somehow chooses life over death. The film is in English and Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is $6 for all alumni, faculty, and staff, and is free for students. General admission is $8. The film screens on Friday, August 28 at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, August 29 at 1 and 6:15 p.m., and Sunday, August 30 at 3:45 and 9 p.m. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com.

The Academy Award-winner for Best Foreign Language Film of the year, Departures is a delightful and sensitive journey into the heartland of Japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. The film 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 titled “Departures,” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency position but discovers the job is actually for a “nokanshi” or “encoffineer,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. His wife and others despise the job, but 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. The film is in Japanese with English subtitles. Admission is $6 for all alumni, faculty, and staff, and is free for students. General admission is $8. The film screens on Friday, August 28 at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 29 at 3:45 and 9 p.m., and Sunday, August 30 at 1:15 and 6:30 p.m. For more information visit www.cosfordcinema.com.