My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is a 1989 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Jim Sheridan

Jim Sheridan

Jim Sheridan is an Irish film director. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is perhaps best known for his films My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Get Rich or Die Tryin and In America.-Life and career:...

 and starring Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...

. It tells the true story of Christy Brown

Christy Brown

Christy Brown was an Irish author, painter and poet who had cerebral palsy. He is most famous for his autobiography My Left Foot, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name....

, an Irishman

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 born with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....

, who could control only his left foot. Christy Brown grew up in a poor, working class family, and became a writer and artist. The film also stars Ray McAnally

Ray McAnally

Ray McAnally was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as The Mission, My Left Foot, and A Very British Coup.-Background:...

, Brenda Fricker

Brenda Fricker

Brenda Fricker is an Irish actress of theatre, film and television. She had appeared in more than 30 films and television roles...

, Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...

, Julie Hale

Julie Hale

Julie Hale is an Irish actress. To international audiences she is probably most familiar for her role as Rachael in My Left Foot. She played Terry Deegan in award winning Irish Soap Fair City...

, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan, Declan Croghan, Eanna MacLiam, Marie Conmee, and Cyril Cusack

Cyril Cusack

Cyril James Cusack was an Irish actor, who appeared in more than 90 films.-Early life:Cusack was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa, the son of Alice Violet , an actress, and James Walter Cusack, a sergeant in the Natal mounted police. His parents separated when he was young and his mother took...

. It was adapted by Shane Connaughton and Jim Sheridan from the book of the same name

My Left Foot (book)

My Left Foot is the 1954 autobiography of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy on June 5, 1932 in Dublin, Ireland. As one of 13 surviving children, Brown went on to be an author, painter and poet.-Childhood:...

 by Christy Brown

Christy Brown

Christy Brown was an Irish author, painter and poet who had cerebral palsy. He is most famous for his autobiography My Left Foot, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name....

.

It won the Academy Award for Best Actor

Academy Award for Best Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

 (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 (Brenda Fricker).