In Departure, SJ Ramir focused on the connection between emotional and geographical isolation. Using visual distortion as a tool, and accompanied by ‘uneasy' audio soundtracks, he attempts to transport the viewer to ‘a world where external geographical landscapes take on greater meaning and become metaphors for the journeys that we make through internal landscapes of the soul'.

The entire footage was shot on location in New Zealand, and much of the layers used in the soundtrack feature audio ‘grabs' from rainforests and tussock country during shooting.