Event

BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO

Tuesday, June 1 at 7:30pm

Members $9 / Public $13 (includes Reception)

In Person: Filmmaker Jessica Oreck

Imagine cramming 128 million people onto an island the size of Montana you
would be pretty close to replicating the density of Japan. Not surprisingly, space is
at a premium. Yet even in Tokyo, the pinnacle of this figurative "can of sardines,"
people of all ages still make room for a tiny bit of wilderness. It is only fitting that they
have become captivated by nature's most efficient invention in space, design and
function insects. Sold live in vending machines and department stores, insects
inspire a unique enthusiasm in Japan. Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo explores why
Japan developed this rich social relationship with insects. It opens in modern-day Tokyo where a single beetle recently sold for
$90,000 then slips back to the early 1800s, to the first cricket-selling business and the development of haiku and other forms of
insect literature and art. Along the way the film takes side trips to Zen temples and Buddhist Shrines, nature preserves, and art
museums in its quest for the inspirations that moved Japan into this fascination while other cultures hurtled off towards an almost
universal fear of insects. Laced with poetry and art from Japan's history, this film becomes about much more than insects. Beetle
Queen Conquers Tokyo is set to the rhythm of traditional Japanese values in its attention to detail, harmony, and the appreciation
of the seemingly mundane. It quietly challenges the viewer to observe the world from an uncommon perspective that will shift the
familiar to the fantastic and just might change not only the way we think about bugs, but the way we think about life.
(USA / Japan, 2009, 90 Mins., color In Japanese with English Subtitles Director: Jessica Oreck)