Belfast-born actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for last year's semi-autobiographical comedy-drama Belfast, will be honoured with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Richard Harris International Film Festival.

The festival kicks off in Limerick today, October 26th, and will last until Monday, October 31st.

Branagh was also nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and for Best Director for Belfast. He has won four BAFTAs and two honorary awards over the course of his career, as well as two Emmys and a Golden Globe Award. The Northern Irish star was named one of Ireland's greatest film actors by The Irish Times in 2020.

The filmmaker surpassed the likes of George Clooney and Walt Disney as the first person to have been nominated in seven different Oscars categories.

With a vast body of work featuring everything from critically acclaimed Shakespeare adaptations to superhero films with Marvel, his notable productions include Henry V (1989), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Hamlet (1996), Cinderella (2015), and Belfast (2021).

 

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According to festival director Zeb Moore, "the career of Kenneth Branagh absolutely embodies the spirit of the festival.

"His work on film, TV and theatre is world renowned, covering multiple genres as not only a formidable actor but such a talented writer and director as well. He is greatly admired by those within the artistic community," he said.

Richard Harris International Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and was named after one of Ireland's most influential screen actors, who paved the way for many. Harris is best known for his performances in This Sporting Life (1963), Camelot (1967), Cromwell (1970) and The Field (1990), among many others, and portrayed Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films.

The acclaimed actor passed away aged 72 twenty years ago yesterday, on 25th October 2002. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), which also featured Kenneth Branagh in the role of Gilderoy Lockhart, was his final film role.

Richard Harris International Film Festival is set to screen twelve features films and a large short fiction and documentary programme. Opening the festival today are student screenings, the horror feature Midnight Peepshow and short film Sex Lives.

Find the full schedule here.

 

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