• OPENING AND CLOSING PREMIERES
• THE MAGIC FLUTE - UK AND IRELAND PREMIERE
• STORM CINEMAS
  7.30PM - THURSDAY 22 MARCH
• £6.50/£6.00 BUY TICKETS

Kenneth Branagh is renowned for his interpretations of Shakespeare's plays, Henry V (89) Much Ado about Nothing (93), Hamlet (96) and Love's Labour's Lost (00). His talent in a range of films as an actor, director and producer is internationally acclaimed: Dead Again (91), Peter's Friends (92), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (94) and A Midwinter's Tale amongst many others. He is currently working on Sleuth (08).

Whether he's playing Harry Potter's Gilderoy Lockhart or Shakespeare's Henry V one thing is for certain Kenneth Branagh is never far from the hearts of fans in his native Belfast.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Branagh has adapted one of the composer's most famous operas for the screen. One of Mozart's last compositions The Magic Flute was highly popular in its day and was intended to be enjoyed by the ordinary people. The action and familiar characters are moved away from the timeless, fairy-tale world of most productions to the trenches of the First World War, amidst the horror and mud of the Western Front.

Tamino is wounded in a frightful battle and mercifully rescued by a trio of field nurses, while the endearing Papageno is a bird keeper who checks for gas in the trenches. It is not long before these two soldiers are dispatched on a daring mission to save Pamina, who has been abducted by Sarastro. Tamino has fallen instantly and hopelessly in love with her after seeing her photograph. What ensues hews to Mozart's captivating tale of two men seeking their respective loves and dealing with the trials that confront them along the way.

Written and reconceived by Branagh from a libretto adapted by Stephen Fry. Mozart's music has never sounded so timeless.

Dir. Kenneth Branagh, 2006, UK/France, 135 mins, Cert 15, Celluloid Dreams