Sid Mitchell

Wah-Wah -- Acclaimed actor Richard E. Grant's directorial debut, 'Wah-Wah', is a semi-autobiographical 'coming-of-age at the end of an age' drama which focuses on the dysfunctional Compton family. Set in Swaziland, just prior to its independence from Britain, the gradual disintegration of Ralph's family mirrors the end of the British rule.

Acclaimed actor Richard E. Grant's 'Wah-Wah' is a semi-autobiographical 'coming-of-age at the end of an age' story, told through the eyes of young Ralph Compton. Set during the last gasp of the British Empire in Swaziland, South East Africa, in 1969, the plot focuses on the dysfunctional Compton family whose gradual disintegration mirrors the end of British rule. As an 11-year-old, Ralph witnesses his mother's adultery with his father's best friend. His parents divorce and Ralph is sent to boarding school. His father, Harry (Gabriel Byrne), not only loses his wife (Miranda Richardson) and best friend, but also his position as Minister of Education with the coming of Independence, prompting his rapid descent into alcoholism. Now 14, Ralph (Nicholas Hoult) returns home to discover that his father has re-married an American ex-air 'hostess' named Ruby whom his father has known all of six weeks. As round a peg as you could find in this square holed society, Ruby (Emily Watson) ridicules the petty snobbery of the restless colonials whose chief amusements are gin, adultery, and their foppish slang of 'toodle-pip' and 'hobbly-jobbly' -- that Ruby identifies as sounding like 'Wah-Wah.' Although Ralph is initially wary of Ruby, he bonds with her as his father's drinking escalates and becomes dangerously out of control. It's this chaos that stokes Ralph's inner turmoil, and eventually forges his creative mind.

While Harry is a likeable and well-connected man, his marriage to Lauren is on shaky ground, and when he learns she's been having an affair with one of his best friends, she leaves him and he begins drinking heavily.

Living in England in the 1950s, Vera Drake is a selfless woman completely devoted to her working-class family. A natural-born caregiver, she also spends time caring for her sick neighbor and elderly mother. And although the practice is illegal, she also secretly helps desperate women induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies. Vera does not see herself as a criminal, however; she is simply helping women in medical need, and she always does so with a smile and kind words of encouragement. But when the authorities finally discover what she has been doing, Vera's world and family life begin to unravel rapidly. Starring Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominee Imelda Staunton ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Shakespeare in Love") in the title role. Also starring Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner Jim Broadbent ("Inkheart," "Hot Fuzz") and Eddie Marsan ("V for Vendetta," "Hancock").