Белфаст (Belfast)

Filming his semi-autobiographical feature Belfast prompted an increase in cardiovascular activity for Kenneth Branagh. “Our one-way systems caused various hilarity — the steps everybody took, as measured by their devices, went up significantly,” says the filmmaker, discussing the changes needed to allow filmmaking to continue in the time of Covid-19. “You were often travelling a great deal further.”

 

Telling the story of a boy growing up in the tumult of late 1960s Northern Ireland, Belfast is a film Branagh had wanted to make for “the last 10 or 15 years”. He suddenly had the time and headspace to write his passion project having completed the majority of post-production on his second Agatha Christie adaptation, Death On The Nile for 20th Century Studios, by the time the UK lockdown began in March. “It had the impetus and energy to move to production with speed that some projects are just born with,” says Branagh.

 

No production, however, is easy to shoot right now. Covid-19 testing for “anyone joining the production in any capacity” began two weeks ahead of the August 27 start date, and continued for the on-set crew every day throughout the shoot. The “much-reduced” crew was separated into zones: green for the shooting crew, red for people with no requirement to be on set, and a middle zone for those interacting with the set.

 

In a short time, Branagh was able to sign up a cast for Belfast that included Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Caitriona Balfe and his frequent collaborator Judi Dench, who has long been attached to the project. Branagh emphasises the care they took to keep safe the 85-year-old actress he refers to as “a complete, sleeves-rolled-up collaborator”.

 

“Judi was in hair and make-up away from other people and went from there to the set with a mask,” he says. For scenes in confined spaces, the camera crew filmed through windows to keep the number of people in an enclosed space to “five or six” maximum.

 

Daily temperature checks and a digital questionnaire monitored the health of all involved. The film includes several young actors; production had to provide satisfactory evidence of appropriate care and concern in order to obtain child licences from local councils. Branagh was even able to incorporate the safety measures into his story. “In recreating the historical threat that period produced in street life, we had crowd artists masked on screen,” he says.

 

The film shot for several days in the eponymous Northern Irish capital, before moving to locations in and around London in September. “We would have been in Belfast for longer [had it not been for the pandemic],” the director admits. Despite this compromise, Branagh sings the praises of his home city’s creative set-up. “When we were there, we were incredibly fleet of foot,” he says. “The film infrastructure in the north of Ireland is so highly developed, partly as a result of the success of Game Of Thrones, that the assistance we were given was second-to-none.”

 

The film’s producers are Laura Berwick, Celia Duval, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas; the latter has worked as Branagh’s assistant on titles dating back to 1992’s Peter’s Friends, and received a first producer credit on his William Shakespeare feature All Is True in 2018. Branagh found working with close companions made handling the trials of the new guidelines easier. “Everybody understood, however complex or time-consuming some of the preparations were, that it not only protected particular individuals who might be in vulnerable groups — it protected absolutely everybody,” he says. “There was a tremendous sense of shared responsibility.”

 

As a project packaged after the pandemic began, Covid-19 cover was not included in the independently financed film’s production insurance. “We had normal insurance arrangements, but the larger Covid-19 element of it was not something we could do in a practical way,” says Branagh.

 

Time was also a factor. “It seemed like there was a narrowing window,” he adds. “Based on the brevity of time and not wanting to burden ourselves with financial protections that took a while to gather, we stayed a little more flexible and independent.”

“We spent what it took,” says Branagh of Covid-19 safety on Belfast. He and his team decided to maintain the frequency of testing on exterior locations, even with a reduced chance of virus transmission outdoors. “It didn’t make straight-up-and-down financial sense, but it made sense in terms of feeling we were doing everything we could to be vigilant about the virus, and so that everybody understood what was going on. Clarity of information is key in filming in the time of Covid-19.”

 

The unifying thread among all projects was a willingness to get going after a hiatus of several months. “Although the work we do is by no means an essential service, entertainment has been very important to people in lockdown,” says Branagh. “We were supremely glad to be reminded of how privileged we are, and how precious it was to continue to do it.”