Martha Wilson will be part of April 22 panel discussion looking back at the history of Franklin Furnace and the reperformance of historical works
Who: Martha Wilson, Robert Longo, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Tavia Nyong’o, and Alaina Claire Feldman
What: “Performing, Re-enacting and Reacting”
Where: Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 144 West 14th St., second floor, room 213
When: Wednesday, April 22, free, 6:30
Why: In conjunction with the traveling exhibition “Performing Franklin Furnace,” curated by FF founder Martha Wilson and continuing at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery through April 30, and “Martha Wilson: Downtown” at the NYU Fales Library also through April 30, Pratt will host the panel discussion “Performing, Re-enacting and Reacting,” with Wilson, fellow artists Robert Longo and Nicolás Dumit Estévez, and cultural critic Tavia Nyong’o, moderated by Alaina Claire Feldman of Independent Curators International, celebrating the highly influential Franklin Furnace, the artist-run space whose archives have now moved into Pratt in Brooklyn, and considering the current trend of re-performing historical works.
Stephen Fingleton’s debut feature, The Survivalist, arrives with the kind of expectations that are, well, tough to survive. The script was on both the 2012 Hollywood Black List (tied for fourteenth) and the 2013 Brit List (number one) of best unproduced screenplays; the self-taught Fingleton has been included in various names-to-watch, stars-of-tomorrow lists; and his twenty-three-minute 
Greendale, Neil Young’s “musical novel” about a small American town encountering a few troubles — including drugs, corporate greed, extramarital doings, the murder of a police officer, and a little red devil — is simplistic, amateurish, silly, and a lot of fun. The music, especially “Falling from Above,” “Devil’s Sidewalk,” and “Bandit,” is awesome, featuring Young’s soaring guitar and the solid backing of Crazy Horse. There’s no dialogue in the film, just the characters lip-synching to Young’s singing. With Greendale, Young has created his own little world, and for nearly ninety minutes, it’s a pleasure to be a part of it. The direction is credited to Young’s alter ego, Bernard Shakey, who is enjoying a weeklong retrospective at the IFC Center, consisting of a 35mm print of Greendale, a digital restoration of the director’s cut of Human Highway, the twentieth-anniversary of Dead Man (with director Jim Jarmusch participating in a postscreening discussion on April 23 at 7:00), a high-definition digital projection of Journey Through the Past, a 35mm print of Year of the Horse (with Jarmusch at the IFC Center for the 9:45 screening on April 23), and other musical journeys starring Young, who continues to make vibrant music as he heads toward seventy. 
Malaysian-born Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang’s What Time Is It There? is one heck of an existential hoot. When his father (Miao Tien) dies, Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng), who sells watches on the street in Taipei, becomes obsessed with a series of things: a strange woman (Chen Shiang-chyi) who insists on buying Hsiao-kang’s own watch and then leaves for Paris; Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (Tsai’s “all-time favorite film”); urinating in whatever is near his bed instead of going to the bathroom; and changing clocks to Paris time. Meanwhile, his mother (Lu Yi-ching) is determined to follow ridiculous rituals to bring her husband back, and the woman in Paris (Cecilia Yip) goes through a number of bizarre events as well. There is not a single camera movement in the film (except for in the 400 Blows film clips); the scenes are shot by Benoît Delhomme in long takes, often lingering before and after any action — when there is any action. The dialogue is spare, ironic, and hysterical. If you like your movies straightforward and linear, then this is not for you, but we loved this absolute riot of a film. And yes, that person sitting on the bench in the cemetery is exactly who you think it is. One of several Tsai films in which Lee portrays a version of Hsiao-kang, What Time Is It There? is screening April 24 at 7:00 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image’s fourteen-film tribute to Tsai’s career; other upcoming films include