“Belfast” is the story of a working-class family grappling with the start of The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. Join Washington Post Live for a conversation with Academy Award-nominated actor and director Kenneth Branagh about his own childhood in Northern Ireland and how the film is reflective of his memories of leaving Belfast because of the conflict.

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Kenneth Branagh

Provided by Narrative PR.

Kenneth Branagh is one of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers and actors.

Most recently, Branagh wrote and directed BELFAST, a poignant story of love, laughter and loss in one boy’s childhood amid the social tumult of the late 1960s. Nominated for 11 Critics Choice Awards and 7 Golden Globe Awards, the film stars Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds and introduces 10-year-old Jude Hill. Branagh’s work on this film has also been recognized with both a DGA and a PGA Award nomination.

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Branagh will soon be seen starring as Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the upcoming Sky Atlantic limited series THIS SCEPTRED ISLE. The series tells the story of the events surrounding the Prime Minister, the UK government and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic. It is directed by Michael Winterbottom and produced by Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films. The series is expected to release in Fall 2022.

Most notably, Branagh played the crucial role of Commander Bolton in Christopher Nolan’s epic film DUNKIRK. At the 90th Academy Awards this film received a total of 8 Academy Award® nominations and was awarded the top prize for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. The additional 5 nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Production Design. Additionally, Branagh played Sir Laurence Olivier in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, opposite Michelle Williams and directed by Simon Curtis. The role earned Branagh an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nomination. This marked Branagh’s fifth career Academy Award® nomination, making him one of the first actors to receive five nominations in five separate categories (Actor, Supporting Actor, Director, Screenplay, and Short).

Branagh's first venture into filmmaking met instant success. His 1989 production of HENRY V, which he adapted from the Shakespeare and both starred in and directed, won a score of international awards including Academy Award® nominations for Best Actor and Best Director.

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Outside of his roles on screen, Branagh maintains a strong connection to the theatre. In 2016, the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company took up a yearlong residency at London’s Garrick Theatre.

Branagh is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He succeeded Lord Attenborough as President of RADA in the summer of 2015. He received the prestigious Michael Balcon Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), for outstanding contribution to cinema. In 2012 he received a Knighthood for his services to drama and the community in Northern Ireland. And this year Belfast awarded him with their Freedom of the City.

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