Production, Distribution, Exhibition

By Nathan Henton

‘71

Genre : Action War Thriller DramaWritten by Gregory Burke

Directed by Yann Demange (director of TV Series Top Boy and others) this is his debut feature full length film.

Main Protagonist is played by Jack O’Connell - relatively unknown.The film focuses on how Gary (Jack O’Connell) a young British soldier is

accidently abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast during the troubles in Northern Ireland

Locations were all in the UK; Lancashire, Yorkshire and Liverpool.Filming started in April 2013.

‘71

Production Companies :Main Production Companies for the film were Film

4 and the BFI Film FundFilm4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award winners such as Steve McQueen’s 12 Years

A Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady.

The budget for the film amassed through a number of production companies was £8.1million.

Production & Advertisement• The script came to the director through Film4. It had been developed

with the assistance of the Northern Ireland Screen Commission.• Based all about the troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970’s.

• A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend

from foe, the raw recruit must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorienting, alien and deadly landscape.

• The official trailer was released on August 20, 2014. 3 months before the cinema release of the film.

Distribution• The Premier was at the Berlin Film Festival

• Not much else is known about the distribution just that it made a gross of $1,268,760 (1 May 2015)

Reception• '71 received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator,

reports that 97% of 115 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 7.7/10.

• "a tense thriller from Britain that so adroitly joins physical intensity, emotional authenticity and political acuity that you may find yourself forgetting to take a breath."