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lifestyle WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014 Sanad fund opens doors to non-Arab ﬁlmmakers he Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s Sanad fund is opening “We had to ask ourselves: what defines an Arab film?,” “Sanad is always a work-in-progress, because we try to as a full-service entity for filmmakers, that also encompass- up to Arab-themed projects by non-Arab directors said the fest’s director of programing, Teresa Cavina. The be as close as possible to the needs of filmmakers,” Cavina es mentoring and advice on matters such as what’s the Tand producers in a move that may help establish first step was to support works by directors of Arab descent said. “Of course, what we can give as a fund is helpful, but it best fest to launch a specific pic. more of a bridge between film industries in the Middle East but living abroad, who no longer have an Arab passport. does not constitute the full budget for a film; so what we A noticeably larger Gallic group is attending the current and the West, especially with Europe. “Now we’ve taken it a step further: if there is a documen- need to do is to help them meet co-producers.” Sanad co-production forum, comprising reps from Sanad, which plays an important role in fostering film- tary of a film that tackles very important questions for the To help Sanad-supported pics find more financing, Memento Films Intl., MPM Film, Rezo and Wild Bunch. making in the region, is steadily stepping up efforts to help Arab world, we will support it even if the director has no they’ve expanded the co-production forum this year (pic- Among others also attending are the UK’s Dogwoof and Arab directors and producers get their pics made, even Arab ties,” she added. tured) and have plans to expand it further going forward regulars such as Hong Kong-based Fortissimo. — Reuters though its budget remains unvaried at $500,000 total per Cavina cites Danish director Janus Metz’s docu into a bona fide co-production mart. year. The fund awards development grants worth up to “Armadillo,” about the Danish military during the war in “We are not just a film fund; we adopt our projects,” said $20,000 and postproduction grants up to $60,000. Afghanistan, as an example of what would qualify. Cavina. This goes in the direction of having Sanad function TV Review ‘Boardwalk Empire’ finale good to the last drop erence Winter has professed his love for “The Sopranos” finale, but the “Boardwalk TEmpire” creator certainly didn’t choose to emulate his former show’s cryptic conclusion in crafting a fifth season that steadfastly built toward its final, revelatory sequences. And that’s to his and the program’s credit, as the HBO drama methodically detailed the history of its central This photo provided by Sam Rudy Media Relations shows, Michael Esper, left, and Fred Rachel Tucker, left, and Michael Esper, in a scene from the play, “The Last Ship.” character, Nucky Thompson, while tying up loose Applegate, in a scene from the play, “The Last Ship.” The show now at the Neil Simon ends (or most of them, anyway) with a ruthless Theatre in New York is Sting’s semi-autobiographical story about a prodigal son who efficiency that would have made Michael returns to his northern England shipbuilding town to reclaim the girl he abandoned Corleone proud. when he fled 15 years before. — AP photos Sunday’s closing hour (and SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t watched) saw Nucky become the embodiment of fellow mobster Johnny Torrio’s rueful admonition that there’s little point to being the richest man in the graveyard. In that, he Sting’s ‘The Last Ship’ is a thrilling stuff joined a rather lengthy roster of key players who had bitten the dust in this fast-moving final flight of episodes, to the point where in hindsight the ou may be tempted upon leaving Sting’s Broadway musi- truncated eight-episode season felt a trifle cal “The Last Ship” to head straight to a pub to drain a pint rushed. Yand sing some sea shanties. Or maybe go weld some- With Michael Kenneth Williams’ Chalky White thing. Or do both. and Michael Shannon’s Nelson Van Alden having Such are the foot-stomping, testosterone-filled feelings that already met violent ends (hell, the gambler emerge from the Neil Simon Theatre, where a blast of British Arnold Rothstein, played by Michael Stuhlbarg, working class camaraderie among steel workers has docked checked out in the prolonged lapse between sea- during these times when we only construct things from Ikea. sons), the question lingered as to whether Nucky “The Last Ship” has some powerful performances, some out- (Steve Buscemi) - having shrewdly cashed out, standing songs, real heart and a creative team that uses every under pressure from the rising tandem of Lucky inch of the stage in thrilling ways. Perhaps there’s a bit of bloat Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and Meyer Lansky and far too many sea references, but when it works, it does so (Anatol Yusef) - could somehow cheat the fates brilliantly. The show is Sting’s semi-autobiographical story about and get out alive. a prodigal son who returns to his northern England shipbuilding Still, the beautifully crafted flashbacks that ran town to reclaim the girl - and a son - he abandoned when he throughout the season made clear Nucky’s state- fled 15 years before. The shipyard, meanwhile, is closing and the ment to the tragic Gillian (Gretchen Mol) in the workers are divided over the future. The show is about loss and finale - that “The past is the past. Nobody can letting go. change it” - was true. Having sacrificed Gillian’s Michael Esper (“American Idiot”) plays the hero, somehow adolescence on the altar of his own ambition, making a man potentially unlikable into someone melancholy then killed her son Jimmy (Michael Pitt, we hardly and sick at heart. Rachel Tucker is fiery and strong and superb as knew ye) for betraying him, Nucky finally met his his love interest, both protective and vibrant. Jimmy Nail is a maker at the hands of Gillian’s grandson, which great as the softhearted foreman with a gruff exterior, and Fred certainly had the feeling of poetic justice and Applegate is irrepressibly good as a profane priest. what goes around, comes around. Steven Hoggett’s special brand of choreography - unexpect- ed dancers swaying in unison, slo-mo kicks - is particularly effec- Satisfying tive here. As he’s done in “Once,” and “The Curious Incident of the Written by Winter and Howard Korder and Dog in the Night-Time,” he turns the un-lithe and the downright directed by fellow “Sopranos” alum Tim Van rotund into lighter-than-air expressions of dreamlike movement. The project began as a CD and PBS concert special before it From left, Rachel Tucker, Shawna M. Hamic, Sally Ann Triplett, Leah Hawking, and Dawn Cantwell, rear, in a scene from Patten, the climactic hour was thus just the clos- the play, “The Last Ship.” ing chapter in what was really a novelized season- was turned into a stage version. Sting drew on his childhood, long finale, bearing a closer resemblance in that growing up in Newcastle’s Wallsend neighborhood, near the Swan Hunter shipyards. David Zinn’s sets are not surprisingly all manages to steer away from simple, sticky-sweetness and stabs What’s remarkable is the old tunes fit flawlessly, proof Sting’s respect to “Breaking Bad’s” finishing arc than its at an aching wistfulness, aided by gloomy, evocative lighting by songs have always been built of strong stuff and often reached spiritual predecessor. about steel - girders and ladders and gates and rust-stained hulls. There’s even rain and acetylene torches. Christopher Akerlind. back to his hometown. The writers also have plundered imagery The emphasis on who lived or died, however, Sting’s stage composing is nicely complex, mixing sassy bal- from Sting’s old lyrics to build their story, particularly “Island of could easily obscure the many splendid smaller lads with brooding duets and big, violin-led crowd pleasers. Souls.” moments that made “Boardwalk’s” capper so satis- Love triangle Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning lyricist Brian Yorkey (“Next to Outstanding are “Dead Man’s Boots” and “The Night the Pugilist Broadway has something of a crush with the Irish and English fying, from the unexpectedly tender exchange Learned How to Dance,” which here is wonderfully staged right now. There’s “Once” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in between Al Capone (Stephen Graham) and his Normal”) and Tony-winner John Logan (“Red”) wrote the book, plugging into the noble honor and passion of men and women between a father and son behind bars, and the simply beautiful the Night-Time” and “Matilda” and “Kinky Boots.” Hopefully deaf son to Nucky’s estranged wife Margaret title track, which the creators clearly know is good: It’s leaned on there’s room for another, an unlikely moving musical about ship- (Kelly Macdonald) telling Joseph Kennedy (Matt who build things without romanticizing everyone. A love triangle at the story’s heart is deftly navigated, with no one cartoon- no less than four times. builders. We’ll raise a pint to that. — Reuters Letscher) - one of the real-life figures the show Some songs on the CD never made it to the stage and Sting deftly wove into its fabric - “Think about the ishly evil. They’ve even salted the script with references to domestic violence.

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