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

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL: DAY ONE

Eternal Summers headlines NYC Popfest show at Bruar Falls June 16 at Northside Festival

Northside Festival
Multiple venues in Greenpoint and Williamsburg
June 16-19
www.northsidefestival.com

The Northside Festival is back June 16-19 following an outstanding launch last year. The festival features four days of indie music at venues all over Greenpoint and Williamsburg, in addition to film screenings and open art studios. There are hundreds of bands, so don’t get too frustrated if one of the shows you wanted to see is already sold out; festival badges are gone as well, but there’s still lots to choose from. We’ll be featuring highlights and recommendations every day of the festival; here are today’s:

Tiger Mountain presents Hospitality (7:30), Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (8:20), Indian Rebound (9:10), Radical Dads album release show for Mega Rama (10:00), and Pursesnatchers (10:50), Union Pool, $8

Rooftop Films Presents: This Point in Time, including the short films Broad Channel (Sarah J. Christman), Train (Darius Clarke Munroe), The Voyagers (Penny Lane), Block (Chadd Harbold), Door Man (Andrew Goldman & Andrew Blackwell), Love Lockdown (Nadia Hallgren), and Welcome to Pine Point (Paul Shoebridge), followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, IndieScreen, $10, 6:00

NYC Popfest presents Seapony (8:30), the Secret History (9:15), Reading Rainbow (10:00), and Eternal Summers (11:00), Bruar Falls, $10

Art & Real Estate: The Love/Hate Relationship, panel discussion about North Brooklyn arts community, with District Councilmember Stephen Levin, Hrag Vartanian, Marisa Sage, Jackie Moynahan, Ryan Kuonen, and David Pincus, Causey Contemporary, free, 7:00

HoZac Records presents Making Friendz (9:30), My Teenage Stride (10:30), Xray Eyeballs (11:30), K-Holes (12:30), Shea Stadium, $8

GREAT SUMMER READS FOR TEENS!

Books of Wonder
18 West 18th St.
Thursday, June 16, free, 6:00 – 8:00
212-989-3270
www.booksofwonder.com
www.novaren.com

Back on May 18, Nova Ren Suma graced twi-ny’s tenth anniversary party at Fontana’s with the first public reading of her highly acclaimed debut YA novel, Imaginary Girls. The only problem was that the book was not available yet, so eager attendees were not able to purchase a copy at the event. Well, that changed yesterday (June 14), when the brilliant story of the close bond between two sisters in upstate New York went on sale across the country. Suma will be celebrating the release of Imaginary Girls with a reading and signing on June 16 at Books of Wonder, along with Tara Altebrando (Dreamland Social Club), Susane Colasanti (So Much Closer), and Sarah Mlynowski (Ten Things We Did [and Probably Shouldn’t Have]), who will all take part in a panel discussion as well. Don’t be scared off by the YA (young adult) designation; Imaginary Girls is a book for people old and young who love books, a stunningly beautiful work from a rising star in the literary world. (Anyway, the dirty little secret is out: Grown-ups are reading YA books for their own pleasure in droves.) For more on Suma, you can find our interview with her here.

BIG APPLE BARBECUE BLOCK PARTY

Perhaps the weather will cut down the ridiculously long lines at annual Big Apple Barbecue in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Admission: free; $8 per plate of barbecue, $4 per dessert
www.bigapplebbq.org
www.madisonsquarepark.org

When it first began nine years ago, we were instantly addicted to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, in which BBQ experts from around the country offered their delectable delights in a city starving for good ’cue. But soon the crowds became so ridiculous, the lines hours and hours long, that it just wasn’t worth it. And then the Union Square Hospitality Group, which sponsors the event in Madison Square Park, began selling a Fastpass a few years ago, a ticket that allows you to pay extra to cut the line — and then those lines started getting long as well. It all left a bad taste in the mouth, but we’re willing to give it another shot, all in the anticipation of fine barbecue; we’re also thinking that maybe the weather will keep a lot of people away. This year’s pitmasters include Joe Duncan from Baker’s Ribs in Dallas (St. Louis-style ribs), Mike Emerson from Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis (baby back ribs), Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur (pulled pork shoulder), Patrick Martin from Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville (western Tennessee-style whole hog), the ever-popular Mike Mills of 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro (baby backs), Raleigh’s Ed Mitchell (whole hog, all-natural whole turkey barbecue), Jimmy Hagood from BlackJack Barbecue in Charleston (pulled pork shoulder), Tommy Houston from the Checkered Pig in Danville (St. Louis-style ribs), Myron Nixon from Jack’s Old South in Unadilla (beef brisket), Garry Roark from Ubon’s Barbeque of Yazoo (pulled pork shoulder), Drew Robinson from Jim ‘N’ Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham (smoked sausage), and Michael Rodriguez from the Salt Lick Bar-B-Que in Driftwood (beef brisket sausage). There are also several booths from New York City, but we never understand why people would wait two or three hours to get a small plate of food from a restaurant they can go to anytime they want. Bambi Kino, Guitar Shorty, and Dale Watson will perform on Saturday, with Doug Wamble, Those Darlins, and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears playing on Sunday. Among the free seminars are “Corn: The Great Comrade,” “Dips & Drinks,” “The Raw Deal: Killer Sides from Raw Ingredients,” “Southern Living Fourth of July Feast,” “Kentucky Toast,” and “To Live and Die in Avoyelles Parish.”

UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF LE TIGRE: WHO TOOK THE BOMP? LE TIGRE ON TOUR

Le Tigre concert documentary will screen June 7 at the Maysles Institute, with Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and director Kerthy Fix on hand to discuss the film and more

WHO TOOK THE BOMP? LE TIGRE ON TOUR (Kerthy Fix, 2010)
Maysles Cinema
343 Malcolm X Blvd. between 127th & 128th Sts.
Tuesday, June 7, $10, 7:30
212-582-6050
www.mayslesinstitute.org
www.letigreworld.com

In 1961, Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin wrote, “I’d like to thank the guy / who wrote the song / that made my baby / fall in love with me.” The title of that be-bop song, “Who Put the Bomp,” inspired one of music’s first fanzines and later the punk record label Bomp! Records. In their 1999 song “Deceptacon,” the riot grrrl group Le Tigre flipped that question around, asking, “Who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp? / Who took the ram from the ramalamadingdong?” In the song they also dare, “Let me hear you depoliticise my rhyme.” Formed in 1998 by former Bikini Kill leader Kathleen Hanna, zine writer Johanna Fateman, and visual artist Sadie Benning, who was replaced in 2000 by DJ and projectionist JD Samson, Le Tigre challenged the male-dominated world of rock and punk, championing individuality and sexual freedom while redefining gender roles. In 2004, Hanna, Fateman, and Samson set out on a world tour in support of their third and final album, This Island, and asked their lighting designer, Carmine Covelli, to capture it all on film. The result is the engaging Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour, in which Covelli and director Kerthy Fix go onstage, backstage, and behind the scenes as the influential trio heads across four continents and ten countries, playing exciting live shows, meeting the media, taking pictures with Slipknot, revealing what they pack in their luggage, exercising in the gym, and talking about facial hair. They also discuss more serious issues such as gender identity, lesbianism, and their DIY mentality, which flew in the face of the music industry. The seventy-two-minute film, which features live multimedia performances of such songs as “Hot Topic,” “Keep on Livin’,” “Viz,” and “Deceptacon,” is screening on June 7 at 7:30 as part of the Maysles Institute’s monthly “Under the Influence of” series and will be followed by a Q&A with Fix, Hanna, and Fateman.

CELEBRATE OUR NEW FILM CENTER WITH US!

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
June 10-12, free (some events require advance tickets)
212-875-5610
www.filmlinc.com

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is celebrating the opening of its deluxe new multiscreen theater space, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center across the street from the Walter Reade Theater on West 65th St., with a series of free events next weekend. Among the many special programs are a screening of Oliver Stone’s revised final cut of Alexander Revisited, followed by a Q&A with the controversial director; rare screenings of Jacques Feyder’s 1926 silent film Gribiche and Victor Von Plessen, Friedrich Dalsheim, and Walter Spies’s 1933 Island of Demons; a live performance by Fall on Your Sword; Duke professor Fredric Jameson discussing “The Future of Film”; USC neuroscientist Antonio Damasio delivering the lecture “I Am a Studio: Notes on Brain, Self, and Cinema”; and the panel discussion “New Faces of NY Independent Film,” with Antonio Campos, Mike Cahill, Ben and Josh Safdie, and others, moderated by Ted Hope. Paul Schrader will give a Film Class on Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist, Jason Reitman and Mike Nichols will examine the latter’s Carnal Knowledge, Jez Butterworth will talk about his 1997 film, Mojo, Marc Downie, Shelley Eshkar, and Paul Kaiser will show works in 3D, Maurice Marable will host Ghetto Film School screenings of The Story and Live, Joseph!, film scholar Sam Ho will introduce Fei Mu’s restored 1940 biopic Confucius, and Kevin Smith will begin his SMoviola series with Martha Coolidge’s charming 1983 comedy Valley Girl, in addition to screenings of George Cukor’s My Fair Lady, Michael Curtiz’s British Agent, Adam Curtis’s It Felt Like a Kiss, and a sneak preview of an upcoming film that was a hit at Sundance. Finally, “NYFF Opening Night Classics Movie Marathon” features such New York Film Festival opening-night selections as Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law, François Truffaut’s Day for Night, the Coen brothers’ Miller’s Crossing, and Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. Although everything is free, some of the events require advance online ticketing beginning today, June 3, so keep your eye on the above website if you want to be able to catch some of these very special programs.

EAST HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Heitor Dhalia’s ADRIFT kicks off the inaugural East Harlem International Film Festival tonight at the Poet’s Den

The Poet’s Den, 309 East 108th St.
The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.
The New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Ave.
June 1-5, $12 per screening
www.ehiff.com

Founded by Raphael Benavides, Victor Cruz, and Yenny Love, the East Harlem International Film Festival kicks off its inaugural year tonight with two screenings of Heitor Dhalia’s Brazilian tale Adrift at the Poet’s Den and continues through June 5 with more than forty shorts, documentaries, and narratives shown there as well as at the Museum of the City of New York and the New York Academy of Medicine. Other full-length dramas include Eliana Ujueta’s Beneath the Rock, Albert Wu Tiange’s Ru Yun, Malcolm Goodwin’s True Story: Based on Things That Never Actually Happened . . . and Some That Did, Neerraj Pathak’s Right Yaaa Wrong, J. W. Cortes’s Conscientious Objector, and Olivier Bernier’s The Sunset Sky. Among the feature documentaries are Olumide Earth’s Feldstein, which looks at Mad magazine cofounder Al Feldstein; Ana Rokafella Garcia’s All the Ladies Say, about breakthrough female street dancers; and Iris Morales’s 1996 ¡Palante, Siempre Palante! The Young Lords, which examines Latino communities’ fight for equality led by the radical group. The festival will also host the panel discussions “The Perfect Cast,” “The World of Miedo: The Business of Horror,” “The Journey of a Film,” and “Go West, Young Actor: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Being a West Coast or Bicoastal Actor,” the latter two events free and held at the East Harlem Café.

WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2011

Multiple venues
June 1-5
www.worldsciencefestival.com

The mind-expanding World Science Festival kicks off June 1 with a gala celebration at Alice Tully Hall as a group of stars (Liev Schreiber, Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and others) will read Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, a new play written by WSF veteran Alan Alda and directed by Bob Balaban. What follows are more than three dozen events over four days that examine the impact of science on today’s world, including panel discussions, lectures, film screenings, live music, magic, and more. Tickets are still available for most programs, including “Spotlight: Women in Science” on June 2 at Galapagos, a cabaret happy hour featuring Joy Hirsch, Jean Berko Gleason, Priyamvada Natarajan, Corina Tarnita, and Tal Rabin, moderated by Faith Salie; “World Science Festival Salon: The Mystery of Dark Matter” on June 3 at the Rosenthal Pavilion, where you can mingle with Elena Aprile, Glennys Farrar, Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, Katherine Freese, Jocelyn Monroe, and Priyamvada Natarajan; “A Thin Sheet of Reality: The Universe as a Hologram” June 3 at the Skirball Center, a cutting-edge discussion with John Hockenberry, Gerard ’t Hooft, Leonard Susskind, Raphael Bousso, and Herman Verlinde; “Scents and Sensibilities: The Invisible Language of Smell” June 4 at the New School, with Juju Chang, Leslie Vosshall, Sissel Tolaas, Consuelo De Moraes, and Avery Gilbert; “Music and the Spark of Spontaneity” June 4 in the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, in which Pat Metheny will perform and Jamshed Bharucha, Charles Limb, Aaron Berkowitz, and Gary Marcus will focus on his brain and creativity, moderated by John Schaefer; “Man-Made Minds: Living with Thinking Machines” on June 4 at the Kaye Playhouse, as IBM’s Watson supercomputer will be joined by Hod Lipson, David Ferrucci, Eric Horvitz, and Rodney Brooks; and “Chemistry on Canvas: A Revealing Portrait of Monsieur and Madame Lavoisier” on June 5 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Garrick Utley, Kathryn Calley Galitz, Harold Varmus, and Roald Hoffmann. There are also several free events, including the opening reception of “BIORHYTHM: Music and the Body” at Eyebeam on June 3 at 6:00, with Chesney Snow, the Theremin Inspectors, Sonic Bed, Optofonica Capsule, and Stone Forest Ensemble; “From the City to the Stars: A Night of Stargazing at Brooklyn Bridge Park” on June 3 at 8:30; “Science on Site: Explorations on Governors Island” on June 4 with Timothy Ferris, Mark Kurlansky, Dean Pesnell, and Robert Naczi; and the 2011 World Science Festival Street Fair in Washington Square Park on June 5.