BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO Documentaries

For more fascinating filmmaking than any entomology lesson, American filmmaker Jessica Oreck’s debut captures the essence of a centuries-old Japanese subculture that has on acute enthusiasm for insects. Her unconventional approach to science education is never dull, unearthing a surprising national love affair with bugs Oreck sets her documentary to the rhythm of traditional Japanese culture, with its attention to detail, appreciation of harmony and search for revelation in what might seem mundane. The philosophies of revered author and anatomist Dr. Tokeshi Yoro are woven in too as the viewer is encouraged, as Oreck tells us, to “observe the world from on uncommon perspective on nature, beauty, that will shift the familiar to the fantastic It just might change not only the way we think about bugs, but the way we think about life.”