No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

• Ferndale Films
• Granada Television
• Daniel Day-Lewis
• Brenda Fricker
• Alison Whelan
• Kirsten Sheridan
• Declan Croghan
• Eanna MacLiam
• Marie Conmee
• Cyril Cusack