Beetle Queen will soon be available for purchase in the UK!  The DVD (packaged by Edition Rise and Shine and released by November Films,) will be released on January 16th and will be available from our UK web shop, on Amazon UK and, if you have a good one, at your local independent DVD shop.  Beetle Queen will also be available on iTunes VOD in the UK on the same day!

We’re excited and honored that Beetle Queen won the Albert Maysles Award at this year’s Dallas Video Fest.
Thank you, Al!

From now until the 1st of September, everything in the Beetle Queen shop is on sale!
10% off with the discount code BQSUMMER11.
On top of that, our beautiful Beetle Queen posters are even more deeply discounted – $8 a pop – that’s more than half-off with the discount code.
We are making room for the upcoming projects!

I want a room just for this wallpaper.

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article on NPR about solitary bee nests made of flower petals. One of the curators at AMNH, Dr. Jerome Rozen, has been researching these little guys for a long time. Early one morning, walking past his office, he called me in and let me see some samples in person. They are really quite beautiful little pieces of art.
Just a quick reminder that humans aren’t the only great architects and designers…

Beetle Queen will be playing at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts from July 1 through July 7. Times vary (please visit their website for more information), and Jessica will be doing a Skype Q&A after the screening on July 2. We’re really excited to be doing such a long run at this artistic and cultural center…or is it centre?

I couldn’t resist posting this silly but relevant Coca-Cola ad.

Maybe their winter ad campaign will involve some equally relevant reindeer. They should become our official sponsor…

Getting sick of that joke yet?
Well, no matter. It’s true this time. Beetle Queen is taking the UK.
We have several screenings which I will be attending, in the flesh, along with my cameraman/collaborator Sean Price Williams.

Riverside Studios
London, England
May 31, 2011
JO and SPW attending

The Horse Hospital
London, England
June 3, 2011
JO and SPW attending

Sheffield Showroom Workstation
Sheffield, England
June 4, 2011
JO and SPW attending

Glasgow Film Theatre
Glasgow, Scotland
June 7, 2011
JO and SPW attending

Institute of Contemporary Arts
London, England
June 19, 2011
[Free screening for members only]

We will be opening for a week run in July at ICA and then a few other spots later in the summer. Check the screenings page for future viewing opportunities.

Don’t forget! Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo will be screening tonight on Independent Lens!
Check your local listings for the exact time.

Also, our Home-Use DVD is officially available as of today. All proceeds from sales made through our online shop go directly toward funding our next films, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga and Pipe Fire, so buying Beetle Queen from us is a great way to support our past and future work!

The legendary account of Japanʼs beginning, the Nihon Shoki: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to 697 AD, written in the 8th century, contains a story about Japanʼs first legendary emperor, Emperor Jimmu.
Emperor Jimmu is out with a hunting party that has briefly stopped to rest. While standing, a gadfly appears and bites the emperor. Within moments, a dragonfly appears and proceeds to catch and eat the gadfly. The emperor is so pleased he commands a poem to be written about the dragonfly. As none of the hunting party are bold enough to compose an ode, the emperor himself takes on the task.

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Waiting for the game
Whilst I was standing,
My arm in the fleshy part
Was stung by a gadfly;
But soon a dragonfly
That gadfly did bite.
That in this wise
It should be famous,
The Heaven-Filling Land of Yamato
Was called the Land of the Dragonfly.

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Even at the hour of the noon-day meal…
they forget to return home…
the children catching dragonflies.

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When even the moonlight sleeps
on the garden grasses,
the song of the suzumushi,
like the crying of a broken heart
is all that moves in the night.

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Meeting in flight,
how gracefully do the dragonflies,
glance away from each other.

We’ve been getting several requests of people wanting an audio copy of the haikus and poems from Beetle Queen.
So we will be uploading them on the journal. Here’s the first of five.

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Always more clear and shrill,
as the hush of the night grows deeper,
the Waiting-Insect’s voice;
- and I that wait in the garden,
feel enter into my heart
the voice and the moon together.

PAL DVDs are now available for pre-order in our spanking new UK shop and mainland Europe shop.
These shops also include a slightly altered poster (printed in the UK) as well as the original Beetle Queen t-shirts and soundtracks.
If you are anxious to get your hands on even more Beetle Queen gear, please visit the still expansive US shop.