24-29 Feb 2004. Over 20 nations are taking part in the third edition of this event, which includes sections dedicated to French and Spanish cinema and a retrospective of work by Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. But RIFFs real aim is to promote European and international independent film-making by offering young directors and producers a screen and a series of awards. All films are in original language with English subtitles.

Film clips

Cold Mountain. A heroic attempt to capture, in all its tangled bitterness, the backwash of war the lawless, scrappy life that takes shape behind the lines in an atmosphere of uneasy freedom. Inman (Jude Law), a young Confederate soldier, badly wounded and spiritually depleted, deserts his company and tries to make his way back to his home town in North Carolina and to a young woman, Ada (Nicole Kidman), he knew briefly and fell in love with. Along the way, he has a series of grotesque, terrifying adventures. Ada, meanwhile, aided by an arrogant interloper (Rene Zellweger) with a strong back, learns to run the farm that her late father left her. The coming together of the two lovers has a satisfying kind of inevitability, like the halves of a drawbridge falling into place. Anthony Minghella adapted Charles Fraziers acclaimed 1997 novel, and directed in a style both high flown (the lovers letters soar over the tormented landscapes like a blessing) and filthy by the mire and blood of war. The extraordinary cast includes Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins, Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffmann and Giovanni Riblisi.

The New Yorker

Films in original language

Cinema Alcazar, Via Merry del Val 14, tel. 065880099. In original language on Mondays when available.

Cineclub Detour, Via Urbana 47/a, tel. 064872368. In original language when available.

Filmstudio, Via degli Orti dAlibert 1/c, tel. 0668192987. In original language when available.

Nuovo Sacher, Largo Ascianghi 1, tel. 065818116.

In original language on Mondays and Tuesdays

when available.

Cinema Pasquino, Piazza S. Egidio 10, tel. 065815208. In English every day. See daily press for programme.

Cinema Intrastevere, Vicolo Moroni, tel. 065884230. In original language when available.

Multisala Nuovo Olimpia, Via in Lucina 16b-16h, tel. 066861068. Films in original language with Italian subtitles. See daily press for programme.

Warner Village Moderno, Piazza della Repubblica 45/46, tel. 0647779202. In original language when available.