A recording of the BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO Q & A with filmmaker JESSICA ORECK, recorded May 12, 2010

Summary: BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO: What is it about the Japanese and bugs? Inside a Tokyo pet shop, a little boy delights in selecting his new pet, a rainbow beetle (cost: $57). Japanese aesthetics — whether textiles, architecture, gardening, graphics, brush painting or haiku — all reflect a highly refined appreciation for both the diminutive and the transient. BEETLE QUEEN explores the world of Japanese insect-lovers, from the sublime (families who visit the countryside to hear choruses of crickets or experience the yellow-green flashes of light emitted by thousands of fireflies) to the ridiculous (cartoon beetles that infest the zeitgeist). With unabashed humor and tremendous originality, Jessica Oreck looks at the religious, literary, and philosophical underpinnings of a nation’s entomological obsession. Warning: You may look more kindly upon your roaches after viewing. This recording of the iA recording of theQ & A with filmmaker JESSICA ORECK. Recorded May 12, 2010 at a screening of the film