Belfast is set to get its release in cinemas in the UK & Ireland this month, with thousands of fans set to flock to theatres to hear why critics have been giving it such overwhelming praise.
The film follows the story of Buddy, a 9-year old child growing up in Belfast during the beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.
Belfast has won over audiences and critics alike for the direction and writing of Kenneth Branagh, the cinematography, and the star-studded cast which includes Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds.
Is Belfast based on a true story?
Kenneth Branagh has said repeatedly that the film is based on his own experiences of growing up in Belfast as a child.
Branagh, who was born in the Tiger's Bay area of north Belfast, left with his family to move to England whenever the troubles started in 1969. This largely follows the story of what happens to Buddy, the main character in Belfast .
Speaking virtually to film students at the QFT as early as 2020, Branagh spoke about how the film was "personal" to him.
He told audiences: “It’s a very personal film, set partly in Belfast and partly elsewhere.
“My experience of Belfast when I was growing up was to be part of a larger extended family, one that lived nearby each other, in a world in terms of television that had three channels in black and white. We listened to radio extensively, listened to records extensively and we went to see films extensively and when we weren’t doing that, we visited each other.
"I hope that there is humour and I hope that it’s emotional. It’s a look at a people and a place in tumult through the eyes of a nine-year old movie-mad kid."
Branagh later added: "I guess I wanted to go back and shake hands with that 9-year-old boy and I wanted to try and understand the kind of thinking and feeling, and sacrifice my family made in us leaving Belfast, because I had come to understand by the end of last year's lockdown that it was really the most significantly influential event in my own personal life."
Despite this, Branagh has also made clear that Belfast isn't a straightforward biopic of his life, and that it is focused on a particular time and place.
Belfast will be released in cinemas on January 21.
