As Belfast is set to be released later this month in the UK, we're taking a look behind the scenes at the moments that inspired the film.
It follows the story of nine-year-old Buddy as he grows up in the city at the beginning of The Troubles in 1969.
So far, the film has gained international attention and critical acclaim, with audiences amazed by the performances of leading actors Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, and Ciarán Hinds.
But how much of Belfast is based on Kenneth Branagh's own experience of growing up in the city, and when did he leave?
Is Belfast based on a true story?
The film is a semi-autobiographical film, based around Kenneth Branagh's own experience of growing up in North Belfast at the onset of The Troubles, before moving to England with his family.
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.
When did Kenneth Branagh live in Belfast?
Kenneth Branagh grew up in the Tiger's Bay area of North Belfast, where his dad worked as a plumber and joiner, while his mum worked in a chippy. A young Kenneth attended nearby Grove Primary School.
When The Troubles began in 1969, his family moved to Reading in England to escape the violence. They moved when Kenneth was just nine-years-old - the same age Buddy is in the film Belfast.
The actor said his formative years in the city were shaped by "freedom." He told the BBC: "Here was a city, a big city to my child's eyes, that always felt like a village.
"It seemed like you couldn't get lost. Everyone knew you or someone who knew you.
"You could see and feel the limits of where you lived, and you knew exactly who you were - Belfast, working class, proud."
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