Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to Kenneth Branagh-directed feature drama Belfast.

Written and directed by Oscar-nominee Branagh, the semi-autobiographical film charts a boy’s childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital.

Cast includes Golden Globe-nominee Caitriona Balfe, Oscar winner Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, and newcomer Jude Hill.

Dornan and Balfe play a glamorous working-class couple caught up in the mayhem, with Dench and Hinds as the wry and spry grandparents. The film is produced by Branagh, Laura Berwick, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas.

Focus Features will distribute the film in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International will distribute internationally. Endeavor Content handled sales.

Regular behind-the-camera Branagh collaborators include production designer Jim Clay, director of photography Haris Zambarloukos, hair and make-up artist Wakana Yoshihara, editor Una Ni Dhonghaile, costume designer Charlotte Walker and casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockman.

“Belfast is my most personal film. It’s about coming home – a dramatic journey of excitement, emotion and humour,” said Branagh. “To be embraced by filmmakers and distributors of such proven imagination and talent as Focus is fantastic. We are honoured to partner with Peter Kujawski and his amazing team. With the incredible support of Northern Ireland Screen also in the mix, we are very excited for the future of Belfast in cinemas around the world in 2021.”

Said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski: “We are excited and grateful to collaborate with such an esteemed filmmaker and storyteller as Kenneth. Highly personal and passionate, Belfast is a heartwarming piece that is bursting with life, and we look forward to sharing it with audiences worldwide.” [Source]