Belfast

In this self-written story, director Kenneth Branagh tells the story of the early days of The Troubles in the late 1960s, when the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland began to take on an increasingly grim face. Shot in beautiful black-and-white, with occasional bursts of glorious colour, this is for Branagh his most personal film to date – no wonder, as he was born in Belfast in 1960 and saw it all.

Belfast, 1969: Nine-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill) grows up in a working-class Protestant family. The conflict between Protestants and Catholics literally comes close to home when Protestants attack the homes of Catholics on Buddy's street. Things don't get any better when fanatic rabble-rouser Billy Clanton approaches his father and asks him to get involved in the cause. His father refuses; a dangerous decision. Meanwhile, Buddy has befriended his Catholic classmate Catherine.