The Parents and Babies Club gives parents with babies a chance to visit the cinema, without having to find a baby sitter or worry about their babies causing a disturbance. The auditorium is lighter than usual, and there is a secure space for pushchairs. The Club is exclusively for parents with babies under one year old. Membership is free but you do need to sign up and receive a membership card to come to these screenings. You may join on the day, or email us: jemma@riocinema.org.uk with your name, address, contact telephone number, your baby's name and date of birth. Tickets are at the normal matinee price of £6 and £5 Concessions.

• TUE 16 Dec 1.15

AÑO UÑA (15)

(Mexico 2007) dir. Jonás Cuarón 79m. Subtitles. Digital.
Diego Cataño , Eireann Harper, Salvador Elizondo, Michele Alban, Cristina Orozco, Mariana Elizondo.

AÑO UÑA is much more than just a movie, it's an experience, the strikingly original debut feature by Jonás Cuarón, produced by his father Alfonso, the director of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN. During a single year Jonas took thousands of photographs, spontaneous images of people in their everyday lives, unposed and unstaged. These have now been woven into the completely fictional narrative tale of the impossible romance between Molly (Eireann Harper), a 21 year old American travelling through Mexico, and Diego (Diego Cataño), a typically and perpetually horny 14 year old – naïve, romantic and troubled by a persistent ingrowing toenail. The delightful soundtrack offers some often hilarious insights into the cultural differences between America and Mexico as well as some insightful observations on the universally painful experience of growing up.

LEMON TREE (PG)

(Israel/Germany/France 2008) dir. Eran Riklis 106m. Subtitles.
Hiam Abbass, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Doran Tavory, Tarik Copty, Amos Lavie.

Personal meets political in a pertinent and beautifully played drama, based on a true story, that turns a simple snapshot of a minor political situation into a touching and memorable analogy for a country divided. A Palestinian widow finds her beloved lemon grove threatened when an Israeli government minister moves in next door. Israeli security declares that Salma's trees pose a threat to the Ministers safety and order their uprooting.Together with Ziad Daud, a young Palestinian lawyer, Salma goes all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court to try and save her trees. Her struggle raises the interest of Mira Navon, the Defense ministers wife, trapped in her new home and in an unhappy life. Despite their differences and the borders between them the two women develop an invisible bond, while forbidden ties grow stronger between Salma and Ziad. Salmas legal and personal journey lead her deep into the complex, dark and sometimes absurd chaos of the ongoing struggle. With an outstanding central performance by Hiam Abbass, this is intelligent and entertaining cinema at its very best.

• TUE 6 Jan 12.30

CHE: PART ONE (15)

(France/Spain/US 2008) dir. Steven Soderbergh 126m. Digital.
Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera, Elvira Mínguez, Jorge Perugorría.

On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sailed to Cuba with a rebel force determined to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of President Batista. One of those rebels would become a symbol of struggle and hope, an iconic figure recognisable worldwide and a legend: Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. The first part of Steven Soderbergh's powerful and incisive chronicle interweaves narratives of the Argentinian doctor's early years, from his life-changing meeting with Fidel Castro in Mexico to the jungles and hills of Cuba as the fight approaches Havana. Winner of the Best Actor award at Cannes, Benicio Del Toro gives a truly spellbinding performance as the idealist who became a revolutionary hero and an inspiration.

THUR 8 Jan 12.30

CHE: PART ONE (15)

(France/Spain/US 2008) dir. Steven Soderbergh 126m. Digital.
Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera, Elvira Mínguez, Jorge Perugorría.

• TUE 13 Jan 12.45

QUIET CHAOS (15)

(Italy 2008) dir. Antonello Grimaldi 112m. Subtitles.
Nanni Moretti, Valeria Golino, Isabella Ferrari, Alessandro Gassman, Blu Yoshimi, Hippolyte Girardot.

A terrible tragedy forces film executive Pietro to re-evaluate his life, come to terms with his grief, and adapt into his new role as a single parent to his ten year old daughter. The great Italian director Nanni Moretti gives a magnificent central performance as a man bewildered by loss and sorrow, yet refusing to fall foul of self-pity.

• TUE 20 Jan 12.00

A CHRISTMAS TALE ( Un Conte de Noël) (15)

(France 2008) dir. Arnaud Desplechin 153m. Subtitles. Digital.
Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Anne Consigny, Melvil Poupaud, Hippolyte Girardot.

Merry Christmas? It is holiday weekend in the French provincial town of Roubaix, and three generations of a family are gathering under one roof to celebrate together... and endure each other's company. The warring clan has united for a less than celebratory reason – matriarch Junon (Deneuve) is gravely ill. As Junon contemplates her future, her children are forced to reflect on the collective memories from their fraught history in an attempt to reconcile the past before it is too late. The mood swings from the solemn to the ribald and the result is a captivating portrait of a most gorgeously fractious dysfunctional family with all its love and hostility, warmth and mistrust, tensions and mysteries. Deneuve and Amalric , as the ostracised prodigal son, are superb and writer/director Arnaud Desplechin beautifully orchestrates a truly captivating, energizing, passionate, evocative and pleasurable slice of life. Happy New Year!

• TUE 27 Jan 12.30

MILK (15)

(US 2008) dir. Gus Van Sant 128m. Digital.
Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill.

Gus Van Sant's magnificent portrait of the life, death and legacy of Harvey Milk, ‘The Mayor of Castro Street’ and the first openly gay man voted into significant US public office. Ironically, the same election that brought Milk to the board of San Francisco supervisors also elected the man who would kill him, ex-police officer and fireman Dan White. MILK captures not only Milk himself, warts and all, but also the political and social landscape of America in the 1970s. Sean Penn gives the performance of his career and impeccable performances from the supporting cast help strike the delicate balance between a personal portrait and a political history that resonates strongly with more contemporary events and attitudes.

• THUR 29 Jan 12.30

MILK (15)

(US 2008) dir. Gus Van Sant 128m. Digital.
Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill.

• TUE 3 Feb 1.00

LA ZONA (15)

(Mexico 2007) dir. Rodrigo Plá 97m. Subtitles.
Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Maribel Verdu, Carlos Bardem, Daniel Tovar, Alan Chavez, Mario Zaragoza, Marina De Tavira.

Rodrigo Pla's explosive directorial debut is a scarcely disguised portrait of Mexico now. There's tension from the very beginning as a storm disables the security systems of one of Mexico City's exclusive gated communities and three youngsters seize the moment with devastating consequences. Modern Mexican cinema at its most challenging and groundbreaking.

• THUR 5 Feb 12.00

BLINDNESS (18)

(Canada/Brazil/Japan 2008) dir. Fernando Meirelles 120m. Digital.
Julianna Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Maury Chaykin, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal.

An intelligent and thoughtful adaptation of Jose Saramago's award-winning novel. When an epidemic blindness begins to ravage an undisclosed city, casualties are quarantined in an abandoned asylum where chaos soon ensues. One inhabitant seems immune to the plague, and becomes the sole witness to the physical and moral decay of those around her.