The Pan-Macmillan Website – April 2006

“I pitched the idea of an autobiographical film called Wah-Wah to a prospective producer in October 1999. Five years later, it had its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in August 2005. The Wah-Wah Diaries – The Making of a Film covers the highs, lows, troughs and treetops negotiated to get my first film as a writer-director off the ground. It is the day to day, month by month, year in, year out chronicle of the struggle to get the film scripted, cast, financed and filmed on location in Swaziland where all the events took place.

It’s an unvarnished, undiluted, eye-peeling, brain-imploding canter through the way in which this film actually got made, including film politics, producer meltdown, casting catapultings, mysterious sub-tropical diseases, comical carryings on and securing permission from the King of Swaziland to film in the country. Oh, and trying to get a very old horse to fart on cue and look dangerous, when all it really wanted to do was stand still and go to sleep.

The cast that came along for the ride included Gabriel Byrne, Emily Watson, Julie Walters, Nicholas Hoult, Miranda Richardson, Celia Imrie, Julian Wadham and Fenella Woolgar. We had the time of my life.”