The Bridges of Madison County is a media production.
The 68th Academy Awards ceremony , organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS ) , honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25 , 1996 , at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. . The Bridges of Madison County is a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller . It was produced by Amblin Entertainment and Malpaso Productions , and distributed by Warner Bros. . The film was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with Kathleen Kennedy as co-producer and the screenplay was adapted by Richard LaGravenese . The film is about an Italian war bride , Francesca ( Meryl Streep ) , who lives with her husband and two children on a farm in Iowa .