The Herald – Thursday 18th August, 2005

By Phil Miller and Brian Donnelly

The 59th Edinburgh International Film Festival opened last night with a series of stars attending the opening film – the directorial debut of Richard E Grant, the actor.

The star of Withnail and I and Gosford Park said he was “slightly constipated, terrified, exuberant, and exhilarated” that his film, Wah-Wah, was opening the annual festival.

The semi-autobiographical film received its world premiere at the event, although it has yet to receive a distribution deal for UK cinemas.

Although the festival is sometimes criticised for not attracting “A-list” stars to the capital, Grant was joined yesterday by Gabriel Byrne, the heavily pregnant Emily Watson, and Julian Wadham at the launch of the film.

Wah-Wah tells the story of a man whose family’s disintegration mirrors the end of British rule in Swaziland. Grant grew up in the African country and the film was the first to be shot there.

At the red-carpet launch last night, Grant said his elderly mother, still in Africa, would be too ill to attend screenings in the UK. He said instead he would send her a DVD of a film that is partly about her family.

He also revealed he has a long-lost brother. Grant said he had no idea where his sibling now is, but did not elaborate on whether he had tried to reach him, and offered no further details.

His story focuses on 11-year-old Ralph Compston, who witnesses his mother’s adultery with his father’s best friend, leaving Ralph to contend with the disapproval of the local expatriate community.

Grant said: “I’m just so glad that everybody is here and that the film happened and that when people see it they laugh and they are moved.”

He said he “levitated and jumped up and down on the sofa” when he heard his film would open the festival. The symbolism of having the Swaziland-set film, where he was born, debuting in Scotland, where his wife, Joan, was born in Aberdeen, made him particularly pleased.

“People are so encouraging and come to find something that’s new,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for a better launch.”

Byrne, the Irish actor known for films such as The Usual Suspects, said making the film was one of the most memorable events in his career.

“I think that it was the best experience I’ve ever had, either in the theatre or in the movies, working with a group of people, and Africa I won’t be able to forget,” he said.

“For some reason, because of some strange chemistry that nobody could predict, this group of people bonded in a way that I have never experienced before, and the film was truly the most enjoyable and satisfying experience I have ever had.”

Shane Danielsen, director of the EIFF, said that Grant’s film was “better than I could have ever hoped for as an opening night film”. The festival will also finish with a British film, the gangster movie The Business.

Famous faces attending the premiere last night included Anthony Minghella, the director, Brian Cox, the actor, Jack McConnell, and Patricia Ferguson, culture minister.

The creation of the film has been a lengthy process for Grant, who spent nearly six years getting his story filmed. He wrote the story over a two-and-a-half month period towards the end of 1999 and spent the next five years raising funds for the project and getting a cast.

Grant said: “I’m sure you will be aware that securing a cast of this calibre and getting money for a film that doesn’t have explosions or group sex is a bit like juggling with jelly and water at the same time, so it’s a miracle that we’re here. I wanted to do this before I turned 50 and I just squeezed that in in the last seconds of time.”

Grant paid tribute to his fellow cast members, saying: “When I watch it again I’m in awe and admiration of what all the people have done in it.”

Other home-grown films to be featured during the festival are the UK premiere of Asylum, starring Sir Ian McKellen and Natasha Richardson, and Green Street, about football hooligans, starring Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Wood is expected to appear in Edinburgh, as is Jason Biggs, star of the American Pie series, whose latest film is Guy X.

The festival runs until August 28.

Highlights
Today: Anthony Minghella, a public interview.
August 20-22: On a Clear Day, starring Peter Mullan.
August 23, 24: Green Street, starring Elijah Wood.
August 24,26: Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, the first chance to see it in UK.
August 26: Peeping Tom, a Michael Powell film.
August 22,24: Serenity, a new film from Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
August 24, 26: Gypo, first radical “dogme” no-frills film made in Britain.