On Friday, April 9 at 7 PM ET, Scandinavian House will present a film talk with director Jaan Tootsen & author David Rothenberg (Nightingales in Berlin) on Fred Jüssi: The Beauty of Being, screening to virtual audiences throughout the U.S. from April 9-15.
The documentary Fred Jüssi: The Beauty of Being/Fred Jüssi. Olemise ilu looks at a biologist and nature writer who has built his life at the crossroads between nature and culture. A true philosopher of the outdoors, Jüssi has given deep consideration to the fundamental questions of being human. In contrast to an age where success has been defined by hard work, Fred Jussi: The Beauty of Being is a film about fruitful inline; a praise for “dolce far niente,” and a hymn for living slowly. Meandering along nature’s secret trails, gazing at clouds passing by, and falling into the sweet embrace of smoke rising from a campfire, with city noise and economic growth left far, far behind — as Fred Jüssi puts it: sometimes you just have to be sinfully slothful, and all by yourself.
With author David Rothenberg, director Jaan Tootsen will discuss the making of the film and the life of Fred Jüssi, who is internationally known for his work in discussing and popularizing nature topics.
The video will premiere at 7 PM ET on April 10 to launch the week of screenings, and will be accessible on this page via YouTube and Facebook through April 15.
For Virtual Cinema tickets for Fred Jüssi: The Beauty of Being, please click here.
About Jan Tootsen
Jaan Tootsen, born in 1975 is a director and screenwriter known for The New World (2011), which made its its international premiere at the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2011 and won the Best Film of 2011 prize from the Estonian Association of Film Journalists.
He studied at the Tallinn University and works as a program editor at Estonian Radio, and is a cultural advisor of the President of the Republic of Estonia. Tootsen has directed several documentaries and compiled over 300 radio programs. He was awarded the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic of Estonia in 2010.
About David Rothenberg
Musician and philosopher David Rothenberg is the author of Why Birds Sing, Thousand Mile Song, Survival of the Beautiful,Bug Music, and his latest, Nightingales in Berlin. His writings have appeared in at least eleven languages. He has thirty recordings out under his own name, including One Dark Night I Left My Silent House, a duet with pianist Marilyn Crispell, which came out on ECM in 2010.
He also worked on the films Song of the Cicadas, Song from the Rainforest, and Nightingales in Berlin. Rothenberg is professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.