Belfast is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kenneth

Brana.

The film is loosely based on Brana's own childhood as he came of age during the troubles in 1969

and 1970.

I'm Stephen Thompson and today we are talking about Belfast on Pop Culture Happy Hour from

NPR.

Joining me today is NPR Film Critic Bob Mandello.

Hey, good to be here.

It's great to have you also with us as Film Critic and Culture Journalist Bedotry

D. Chaudhry.

Hello Bedotry.

Hi, so good to be back.

It is great to have you here.

I'm excited to talk to you both.

So Belfast isn't a straight up dramatization of Kenneth Brana's own childhood in Northern

Ireland during the troubles, but it's clearly based in part on his own life in which

his working-class Protestant family had to choose whether to stay in a neighborhood

rocked by violence between Irish Catholics and Protestant groups.

Jude Hill stars as Buddy, a young boy raised mostly by his mother, played by Katrina

Balfe.

Jamie Dornan plays his father, who's often away on construction work in England, but

Buddy also gets plenty of input from his grandparents played by Judy Dench and Kirin

...