By Neil Smith

8 Mile, the new film starring US rapper Eminem, is one of dozens of movies that will receive their UK premi�re at the 2002 London Film Festival.

Directed by LA Confidential's Curtis Hanson, 8 Mile is loosely based on Eminem's meteoric rise to hip-hop stardom. Kim Basinger plays his fictional mother.

The two-week event, which runs from 6 to 21 November, is traditionally a highlight of the UK cinema calendar and this year features more than 100 films from more than 48 countries.

Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine will be screened

Dirty Pretty Things, the new film from British director Stephen Frears, opens the London Film Festival on 6 November.

It stars Amelie's Audrey Tautou and is set among London's community of illegal immigrants.

The festival closes on 21 November with another British feature - The Heart Of Me, directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan.

Based on Rosamond Lehmann's novel The Echoing Grove, it stars Olivia Williams and Helena Bonham Carter as two sisters who fall for the same man, played by Paul Bettany.

Galas

Among this year's gala screenings are the film version of Meera Syal's Anita And Me and Shekhar Kapur's The Four Feathers starring Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson.

Roman Polanski's Holocaust drama The Pianist, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and Peter Mullan's controversial The Magdalene Sisters, which won the Golden Lion at Venice, are also included.

Michael Moore's new documentary Bowling For Columbine and Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher, are in the Film on the Square section.

Appearing in 3-D: Rita Hayworth

So is Stephen Soderbergh's Full Frontal, an experimental comedy drama starring Julia Roberts, and Punch-Drunk Love, the latest from Boogie Nights and Magnolia director Paul Thomas Anderson.

Notorious

Potential hot potatoes include The Quiet American with Brendan Fraser and Michael Caine. Based on Graham Greene's novel, the film takes a less than flattering view of US foreign policy during the early days of the Vietnam conflict.

Roger Avery's film version of Bret Easton Ellis's novel The Rules of Attraction is certain to make waves. Its poster has already been attacked in the US for showing cuddly toys engaged in sexual congress.

This year's festival will also include include interviews with Hollywood producer Robert Evans, 8 Mile director Curtis Hanson and cultural commentator Michael Moore.

Meanwhile, a rare screening of the 1953 movie Miss Sadie Thompson offers the chance to see screen siren Rita Hayworth in 3-D.