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2003

Afghanistan

27/6 -

Siddiq Barmak’s Osama, the first film produced entirely in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Canada

4/9 -

Denys Arcand's award-winning Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) is released.   Rémy Girard stars as a terminally ill man whose estranged son (Stéphane Rousseau) determines to make his last few weeks memorable.   Marie-Josée Croze also stars. [MORE] [ADD]

Czechoslovakia

6/3 -

F. A. Brabec’s Krysar is released.   It earns a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the shortest shooting time for a film – just 24 hours. [MORE] [ADD]

Denmark

4/6 -

Lars von Trier's Dogville is released.   Nicole Kidman stars as a woman on the run in 1930s America who seeks refuge in the remote town of Dogville.   The film is shot on a bare stage with buildings drawn in chalk and the actors miming many of their actions.   Paul Bettany also stars.  [MORE] [ADD]

Honduras

– No hay tierra sin dueño, the country’s first feature film, is released.   Sami Kafati shot the film in 1984, but died during post-production.   His son, Ramsés, finishes production with the help of Fonds Sud and the French embassy in Honduras. [MORE] [ADD]

Iceland

1/1 -

Parliament passes a new law to boost funding for domestic filmmaking.   The Icelandic Film Fund is dissolved and replaced by the Icelandic Film Centre and the National Film Archive. [MORE] [ADD]

28/2 -

Dagur Kári 's Nói albinói (Nói the Albino) is released.   Tómas Lemarquis stars as 17-year-old Nói, who sees new girl Iris (Elin Hansdóttir) as his way out of the dead-end town in which he lives and an escape route from his heavy-drinking father (Throstur Leo Gunnarsson). [MORE] [ADD]

Italy

28/2 -

Ferzan Ozpetek's La Finestra di fronte (Facing Windows) is released.   Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Nigro, Massimo Girotti and Raoul Bova star. [MORE] [ADD]

Japan

25/1 -

Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on (The Grudge) is released.   Based on a two-part TV movie, it tells the eerie tale of the horrific fate that befalls anyone who lives in a house in which a family was murdered.  [MORE] [ADD] 

Laos

– The opening of a two-screen cinema in the Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre in Vientiane makes it the first purpose-built cinema to operate in the country since 1995. [MORE] [ADD]

Macedonia

– The entire catalogue of existing films made by the pioneering Manaki brothers is screened by the Cinematheque of Macedonia at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Sachile, Italy. [MORE] [ADD]

New Zealand

30/1 -

Niki Caro’s Whale Rider is released.   Keisha Castle-Hughes plays Pai, a Maori girl raised by her grandparents, who determines to become tribe leader when her grandfather dies without leaving an heir.   Rawiri Paratene and Vicky Haughton also star. [MORE] [ADD]

1/12 -

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the concluding part of his Tolkien trilogy, is released.   Elijah Wood and Sean Astin once again venture into Mordor with an all-star cast that includes Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, John Noble and John Rhys-Davies. [MORE] [ADD]

Norway

19/9 -

Bent Hamer's comedy fra kjøkkenet (Psalms from the Kitchen, aka Kitchen Stories) is released.   Tomas Norström and Joachim Calmeyer star.  [MORE] [ADD]

16/5 -

Four Norwegian cinemas in Kristiansand, Lillehammer, Moss and Risør host the first digital screening of a film from a DVD.   The film in question is The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. [MORE] [ADD]

Trinidad & Tobago

– The government offers a $1 million tax break to corporations who invest in the local film industry. [MORE] [ADD]

Uruguay

17/12 -

Mario Handler's documentary film Aparte (On the Margins) is released.   The film explores the cultural poverty of members of Uruguayan society. [MORE] [ADD]