’71

[projekktor id=’17988′]

’71 is a Northern Ireland set action drama and the feature directorial debut of French filmmaker Yann Demange. The film premiered in competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival and won Demange the British Independent Film Award for Best Director. Jack O’Connell, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, and Sam Reid lead the cast.

A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, and increasingly wary of his own comrades, the raw recruit must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorientating, alien and deadly landscape.

“I’d never had a burning desire to tell a story about Northern Ireland in that period” says Demange. “But it was a remarkable piece of writing. It was muscular, visceral and utterly engaging. Above all, the idea of young men sent to fight dirty wars also struck me as pertinent. Often, they have more in common with the kids they’re pitted against than the men they’re taking orders from. It could be Iraq or Afghanistan. In ’71’s protagonist, Gary, I saw the opportunity to explore the vulnerable masculinity of an anchorless boy, with no family, looking for a tribe to belong to and ultimately finding it in the army, only to be betrayed…”

’71 is rated 14A. Read our review here.