this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

PASSPORT TO TAIWAN

passport to taiwan

Union Square Park North
Sunday, May 28, free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
p2tw.org

Held in conjunction with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the sixteenth annual Passport to Taiwan festival will take place Sunday, May 28, in Union Square Park. The afternoon will feature live performances by Spintop Snipers, Chai Found, Journey to Broadway, Alvin Ailey Dancers, Formosa Melody, Music Center, and Hello Taiwan Tour; such Taiwanese delights as pan-fried dumplings and noodles, intestine vermicelli, Taiwanese tempura, rice dumplings, red sticky rice cakes, lobabeng, steamed crystal meatballs, mango and red bean shaved ice, oyster pancakes, grilled sausage, taro cake, guabao, smoked duck, and crispy giant squid; exhibits from Notable Taiwanese American Project, Bike Tour with Steven Huang, Compassionate Taiwan with Tzu-Chi Foundation, Famous Taiwan Cuisine Connoisseur — Amazing Gourmet Demonstrations, Hakka Culture Experience, and Shiisu Old Street Cultural Mart of Tainan; and children’s games, calligraphy masters, arts & crafts, and more.

BRYANT PARK READING ROOM: DOUGLAS BRUNT WITH JAY McINERNEY

trophy son

Who: Douglas Brunt, Jay McInerney
What: Reading and discussion about Trophy Son (St. Martin’s, May 30, $25.99)
Where: Bryant Park, Fortieth to Forty-Second Sts. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
When: Wednesday, May 31, free, 12:30
Why: “In the end, man shapes the world, but the world gets the first crack at us. We’re not much more than a puddle before we’re two years old, and then more years to develop so we can survive on our own. Until then we take in more impressions than we give.” So begins Philadelphia native Douglas Brunt’s third novel, Trophy Son, about a tennis prodigy. Brunt (Ghosts of Manhattan, The Means) is on a high-powered book tour that will bring him to the Bryant Park Reading Room on May 31 at 12:30 for a reading and discussion with Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City; The Good Life; and Bright, Precious Days, among others. Brunt will also be at the Barnes & Noble at Eighty-Second & Broadway with Harlan Coben on May 30 at 7:00, at Powerhouse in Brooklyn with Amor Towles on June 2 at 7:00, and at Book Revue in Huntington on June 3 at 7:00 with Nelson DeMille (followed by events in DC and Philly with his wife, Megyn Kelly). The free summer reading series in Bryant Park continues on Wednesday afternoons with Robin Kall on June 7, Susan Rieger on June 14, Don Winslow on June 21, and Anthony M. DeStefano on June 28.

WRITING ON IT ALL

Artists will lead participatory workshops in an out-of-use house on Governors Island as part of free Writing on It All project

Governors Island
House 11, Nolan Park
May 27-29, free, 1:00 – 4:00
Continues Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons through June 25
writingonitall.com
govisland.com

The participatory project Writing on It All returns to Governors Island this weekend, with anyone and everyone invited to add their art to an out-of-use house on Governors Island in workshops led by artists. You can contribute just about whatever you want, from drawings and poetry to projections and music or, of course, painting, each session featuring a different theme. The series kicks off May 27-28 with Olga Rodriguez Ulloa and Alexandra Chasin’s “Forms of Resistance (Literally!)” (the house will be open on May 29 as well) and continues June 3 with Luis Jaramillo & Matthew Brookshire’s “The Other Side: Borders and Crossings,” June 10 with Ana Lara and LaTasha Diggs’s “Here,” June 11 with Mariame Kaba, Darian Agostini, and Reign Rolon’s “Community Safety Looks Like: Transforming Justice and Our Relationships,” June 18 with Laia Sole’s “KABOOM,” and June 24-25 with Anthony Rosado’s “TestOURmonials of the Great Turning.” Also on Governors Island this weekend — and also free — are the Rite of Summer Music Festival with Talujon Percussion (May 27, Colonels Row, 1:00 & 3:00) and Family Fun Day (May 28, Nolan Park, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm).

IMMIGRANT SONGS: LIQUID SKY

Liquid Sky</em. is having its last-ever 35mm screening in New York City this weekend

Liquid Sky is having its last-ever 35mm screening in New York City this weekend

LIQUID SKY (Slava Tsukerman, 1982)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Saturday, May 27, and Sunday, May 28, 7:20 (both followed by Q&As)
212-255-2243
quadcinema.com
www.liquidskythemovie.com

“Everybody wants euphoria; what’s wrong with that?” a character declares in Slava Tsukerman’s 1982 sci-fi cult classic, Liquid Sky. First, a tiny alien spaceship lands above a rooftop apartment in the shadow of the Empire State Building. Margaret (Anne Carlisle), a Connecticut native who dresses in shocking makeup and clothing, lives there with Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard), a performance artist and heroin dealer specializing in Liquid Sky. Their world is all about sex, drugs, and punk / new wave music. Later, at the club, they meet Vincent (Jack Adalist), who claims his father is a bigwig in the movies, and Paul (Stanley Knap), a middle-class junkie whose wife, Katherine (Elaine C. Grove), is trying to get him to kick the habit. Katherine’s brother, the androgynous, Bowie-esque Jimmy (also played by Carlisle), is a friend of Adrian and Margaret’s who is going to model with Margaret in what turns out to be a very strange fashion shoot for Midnight magazine with an oddball crew that includes a cool designer (Nina V. Kerova), an eager photographer (Alan Preston), and a snappy hair stylist (Christine Hatfull). Meanwhile, UFO hunter Johann Hoffman (Otto von Wernherr) is on the trail of the midtown alien ship and being wined and dined by the hot-to-trot Sylvia (Susan Doukas), whose window offers an excellent view of Adrian and Margaret’s apartment. The plot thickens when Margaret discovers that she seems to have a rather special power whenever a sexual partner (or rapist) has an orgasm with her.

Ann Carlisle stars as both Jimmy and Margaret in Liquid Sky

Ann Carlisle stars as both Jimmy and Margaret in Slava Tsukerman’s Liquid Sky

Released in August 1982, Liquid Sky was ahead of its time in its treatment of gender identity and sexual orientation (and even bathroom usage); in fact, it’s already postgender. It also presages the AIDS crisis and the protest motto “Sex = Death.” And the special effects, which were created by Russian cinematographer Yuri Neyman and combine science with psychedelia, might look cheesy now but they were cutting edge (and still slyly funny) thirty-five years ago, as were the freaky costumes and production design by Marina Levikova. Marcel Fieve was responsible for the fab makeup and hair. Written by Soviet émigré Tsukerman (Stalin’s Wife, Perestroika), his wife, Kerova, and Carlisle, the film, inspired by Wendy Steiner’s The Scandal of Pleasure and Tsukerman’s own emigration, is an avant-garde look at the immigrant experience in America, whether coming from outer space, the Soviet Union, or Connecticut, as well as the Reagan-era counterculture. The Empire State Building rises tall in numerous shots, a large phallic symbol of personal freedom. There is also a brief shot of the Twin Towers, echoing Carlisle’s performance as both Margaret and Jimmy. The acting is mediocre at best and the plot doesn’t always make sense, but Liquid Sky is more than just a captured moment in time, as it explores issues that are still controversial today. The hypnotic, synth-heavy soundtrack is by Tsukerman, Clive Smith, and Brenda I. Hutchinson, but nothing can top Sheppard’s performance of “Me and My Rhythm Box.” Carlisle appeared in nine movies between 1981 and 1990, including Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee, but hasn’t made another one since, and Tsukerman has directed several nonfiction works but Liquid Sky is his only feature; however, they are collaborating on a documentary about the making of the movie (and perhaps a sequel as well). Among other things, the film is about death, and the original negative is decaying, so the Quad will be presenting the last-ever 35mm New York City screenings of Liquid Sky on May 27 and 28 at 7:20 as part of “Immigrant Songs,” with Tsukerman and Carlisle participating in Q&As after both shows. The series concludes May 26-29 with Brian De Palma’s Scarface and May 27-31 with Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth.

RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN

Ballet star Wendy Whelan invites audiences it to watch her attempt to get back onstage in Restless Creature

RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN (Linda Saffire & Adam Schlesinger, 2016)
Film Forum, 209 West Houston St., 212-727-8110
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Francesca Beale Theater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
Opens Wednesday, May 24
www.facebook.com/restlesscreatureww

“I’ve always been extremely devoted to what I do, and I love being a part of the New York City Ballet. But I do feel the ticking clock, and at times I’ve thought, if I don’t dance, I’d rather die. I’ve actually said that,” longtime New York City principal dancer Wendy Whelan says in the intimate and revealing documentary Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan. Whelan gave directors and producers Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger remarkable access as she faces a turning point in her life and career. In 2013, she began to notice she wasn’t getting the parts she used to excel in and decided to get reconstructive hip surgery, hoping that she could return to dancing full-time, at top level. She allows Saffire and Schlesinger into the operating room as Dr. Marc J. Philippon performs the procedure on her torn right labrum. “Ballerinas are probably God’s best athletes,” Dr. Philippon, says. The film then documents her hard-fought battle to return to the stage, as it’s unclear that she will ever regain her skills — or if Peter Martins and the New York City Ballet will even want her back. “What the fuck is this gonna be like when I can’t do this anymore,” she wonders, later adding, “I need to get back in the game, because I don’t have a ton of time left at my game.” With an inspiring dedication, brave honesty, and self-deprecating sense of humor, Whelan, who turned fifty earlier this month, works with physical therapists Marika Molnar and James Gallegro and discusses options with her husband, choreographer and creative director David Michalek; her manager, Ilter Abramowitz; her mother, Kay; and friends Adam Barrett and Maria Scherer, holding nothing back about the choices she must make. Concerned that soon she will not physically be able to be at her best in ballet, she starts the “Restless Creature” contemporary dance project with choreographers Kyle Abraham, Josh Beamish, Brian Brooks, and Alejandro Cerrudo. But she still aches to return to her home of thirty years, the New York City Ballet, where decades of balletomanes, twi-ny included, have thrilled to her technical precision, insight, musicality, and breathtakingly beautiful line.

Wendy Whelan faces a crossroads in her career in intimate and revealing documentary

Saffire and Schlesinger, who previously collaborated on such documentaries as Smash His Camera and Sporting Dreams, combine home movies and photos with lovely clips of Whelan in pieces by Christopher Wheeldon, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, and Alexei Ratmansky. They mix in scenes of her being interviewed by dance writers, partying with friends and colleagues, talking with former dancers Jock Soto and Philip Neal, and rehearsing with NYCB soloist Craig Hall and principal dancer Tyler Angle. Only once during the year-and-a-half shoot did Whelan ask for privacy; otherwise, her life is an open book, and it’s both exhilarating and heartbreaking to watch, as the film is about much more than just one artist’s struggle to remain relevant; it’s an inherently relatable story about the effects of age, how each of us might react to the inevitable decline of the body. Whelan expresses how hard it is to know that there are certain moves she will never be able to perform again, no matter how well her rehab goes, so there is an underlying sadness throughout the film even as we cheer her on to accomplish her lofty goals. But what really makes the film work is Whelan herself; all of the behind-the-scenes intrigue and personal reflections are fascinating, but Whelan proves to be an extraordinary human being. “You changed how people behave in this profession,” former principal dancer and current Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal tells her. Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan will likely make many viewers take a good look at their own future with new enthusiasm as they approach critical crossroads. The film opens May 24 at Film Forum and Lincoln Center; there will be Q&As with Whelan, Saffire, and Schlesinger (sometimes joined by executive producer Diana DiMenna) at the former on May 25 and May 26 at 7:00 and May 27 at 4:40 and at the latter on May 24 at 7:00, May 25 at 5:00, May 27 at 7:00, and May 28 at 1:00.

FAMILY FESTIVAL AT THE MET CLOISTERS: A TASTE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

The Met Cloisters hosts a Middle Ages–themed family festival this weekend (photo courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Met Cloisters
99 Margaret Corbin Dr., Fort Tryon Park
Saturday, May 27, and Sunday, May 28, free with museum admission of $12-$25 (children under twelve free with an adult), 12 noon – 4:00
212-923-3700
www.metmuseum.org

The Met Cloisters is hosting a family festival this weekend, featuring workshops, a self-guided art hunt, craft projects, and more. Children will be able to make a medieval spice box or goblet in the Pontaut Chapter House, begin an art hunt in Cuxa Cloister, searching for food-related items in paintings and sculptures (with a certificate of achievement available for those who find all the items), and learn about many of the ingredients and utensils used in medieval cooking for feasts and special occasions — and see some of them in the Bonnefont Herb Garden. The events are recommended for children ages four to twelve and will not include any food tastings, although participants will be able to see, touch, and smell certain ingredients (and even take home a sprig of fresh herbs). Visitors are encouraged to come in medieval costume but it is not a requirement.

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT FAMOUS MONSTERS

kevin geeks out about famous monsters

Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Friday, May 25, $16, 9:30
718-384-3980
nitehawkcinema.com
kevingeeksout.com

Film fan and historian extraordinaire Kevin Maher will be taking a scary look at monster movies for the May entry of his monthly Kevin Geeks Out presentation at Nitehawk. On May 25 at 9:30, he’ll be joined by Amber Dextrous, Jon Abrams, Kevin Rice, Kevin Harrington, Chris Smith, and Jack Theakston, who will each discuss their favorite monster. There will be rare footage of classic films, not-so-classic remakes, and other strange versions of well-known and not-so-well-known behemoths. The trailer includes clips of numerous hellions — if you can recognize most of them, you need to be at this event — from Count Chocula to the Creature from the Black Lagoon, so clearly anything goes.