Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 – Sat, Mar 30, 2013

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Directed by: Jessica Oreck
2009 | Japan/USA | Unrated

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo delves into the ineffable mystery of Japan’s age-old love affair with insects. A labyrinthine meditation on nature, beauty, philosophy and Japanese culture that might just make you question if your ‘instinctive’ repulsion to bugs is merely a trick of western conditioning.

“If Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo sounds like some retro Japanese creature feature, guess again. This is a gentle docu-tribute to Japan?s age-old connection to the insect world, a meditative piece that is at times hypnotically beautiful. The film mixes fascinating shots of Japan?s most popular insects — dragonflies, fireflies, crickets, butterflies and, of course, beetles — with related visuals of local daily life and rituals. The point, taken with quiet matter-of- factness, is that nature has always been an inextricable part of Japanese culture, religion and philosophy, with insects being an ideal representation of the country?s traditional attention to detail and harmony.”
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times.

http://www.culvercenter.ucr.edu/film/Beetle-Queen-Conquers-Tokyo

Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
3834 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
Tel: (951) 827-3755