BIAF: The Butcher Boy (35mm) + Neil Jordan Introduction 
Starring Neil Jordan regular Stephen Rea and Eamonn Owens, The Butcher Boy is a darkly humorous tale of a tragic childhood in an insular, rural Irish community of the 1960s.
Based on the award-winning novel by Patrick McCabe (who co-wrote the screenplay with director Jordan), The Butcher Boy focuses on the fantasy world created by 12-year-old Francie Brady (Owens) to offset the tedium and increasingly unstable reality of his actual life. His father (Rea) is an alcoholic and his mother (Aisling O'Sullivan) is beginning to lose her tenuous grip on reality.
As Francie's real life falls apart, his fantasy world takes over, and his reaction to events around him produce increasingly disturbing results, particularly when he decides to get his own back on his nosy neighbour, Mrs Nugent (Fiona Shaw).
This screening will be introduced by writer/director, Neil Jordan.
This event is part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, taking place throughout Belfast from 16 Oct - 23 Nov 2024.
