I saw a digital screener of Nothing Against Life, Colombian-born director Julio Ramirez’s feature film debut, shortly after it won a special Jury Prize at the San Marino Film Festival last year. Even in the cramped confines of my Mac screen, the movie impressed me greatly.

It follows the paths of four disparate characters, all wrestling with the possibility of taking their own lives. Felipe (Fernando Noriega), an expat South American writer, researches the topic with an interest that transcends simple journalistic curiosity. Barbara (Northern Exposure‘s Cynthia Geary), an idle socialite, self-medicates her marital discontent with prescription pills; barista Wave (Hilary Pickles) attempts to liberate her psyche from the residual impact of a fundamentalist Christian upbringing; and undergrad Paul (Keifer Grimm) deals with bipolar disorder and questions about his sexuality.

Given the subject matter, there’s a real danger that Nothing Against Life could tumble into bathos, but it largely avoids that path. Ramirez keeps the exposition lean, confining most of the facts and figures to a brief dialogue between Felipe and a researcher (Hans Altwies) who’s dealing with his own depression. And even when dialogue occasionally leans towards over-earnestness, strong performances from the cast pull the proceedings away from preachiness. Especially strong are Pickles, whose awkwardness and unconventionally beautiful features communicate magnetically with the camera, and Grimm, who navigates the notes of the movie’s most conflicted character with quiet intensity.

Best of all, Nothing Against Life captures Seattle with a painter’s eye, allowing the visuals to tell much of the story. Co-producer/cinematographer Carl Adelson shoots downtown and Capitol Hill in rich hues, and he captures a lot of ravishing shadow during evening scenes. The city’s displayed in such melancholy gorgeousness that it casts a strange sense of romance over the subject matter. That’s no accident: Without getting on a soapbox, Ramirez is addressing the synergy that can sway some people to see dark, narcotic beauty in the act of suicide. And he’s skillful enough behind the camera to mine a great deal of suspense out of one simple question (will these people take their own lives, or won’t they?), without feeling cheaply manipulative or morbid.

Seattle audiences will get a chance to view Nothing Against Life in the grandest of settings tonight. The film screens at 7:00 at the Cinerama, with proceeds benefiting Washington’s Youth Suicide Prevention Program (tickets can be purchased online, or at the door starting at 6:00). The cause couldn’t be more worthy, and there’s no denying the power the movie’s sure to exhibit on a big screen.