Suffragette to open London Film Festival

Carey Mulligan plays an early campaigner for women's rights

This year's London Film Festival will open with the period drama Suffragette, it has been announced.

The film, starring Carey Mulligan, Helen Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep, tells the story of the British women who demanded the right to vote at the turn of the 20th Century.

The film premiere will be simultaneously screened at cinemas across the UK on 7 October.

Suffragette was written by Abi Morgan and has been directed by Sarah Gavron.

Told through the eyes of the character of Maud, played by Carey Mulligan, the film tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement as they fought for the right to vote.

BFI London Film Festival Director Clare Stewart called it "an urgent and compelling film - made by British women, about British women who changed the course of history and it is, quite simply, a film that everyone must see",

Suffragette producers Faye Ward and Alison Owen added: "The Suffragettes would have felt very much at home here, surrounded by the energy, determination, hard work and inspiration that goes into both the Festival and the films that screen here."

The full programme for the festival will be announced on 1 September.