Asia Film Festival

THE KING OF MASKS FRIDAY 6:30PM ORIGIN: CHINA RUNNING TIME: 90 min. DIRECTED BY: Tian-Ming Wu STARRING: Zhigang Zhang, Zhigang Zhao, Renying Zhou, Xu Zhu SYNOPSIS: Nearing the end of his life, Wang -- a locally renowned street performer and wizard of the venerable art of mask magic -- yearns to pass on his technique. But custom decrees that he can only hand down his craft to a male successor. Anxious to preserve his unique art, the heirless Wang buys an impoverished 8-year-old on the black market. DEPARTURES (Oscar Winner!) FRIDAY 8:00PM ORIGIN: JAPAN RUNNING TIME: 131 min. DIRECTED BY: Yojiro Takita STARRING: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue SYNOPSIS: Freshly unemployed, young cellist Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) has an epiphany in which he realizes he's been heading down the wrong career path. Retreating to his hometown, he trains for a new professional role as a nakanshi, or one who prepares the dead for burial. Tsutomu Yamazaki provides comic relief as Daigo's eccentric mentor in director Yojiro Takita's Oscar-winning, richly detailed -- if unlikely -- drama about finding your bliss. Tickets: http://www.dcfilminstitute.org/INVITE/main.php?uid=2rg6irvxb8uhne6zud6b