The 2015 edition of the BFI London Film Festival is set to celebrate feisty females, as festival director Clare Stewart declared it the “year of the strong woman”.

Alongside opening film Suffragette, which stars Oscar-winner Meryl Streep as Emeline Pankhurst, and American Express gala Carol, featuring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as lesbian lovers, there are other films showing women in front on screen and behind the cameras.

Carey Mulligan in Suffragette
Carey Mulligan in Suffragette (Pathe/20th Century Fox)

“It’s a strong year for strong roles for women across our headline galas. We have the great opportunity by opening with a stunning film like Suffragette to amplify the focus on what is happening for roles for women and girls, in terms of their representation in front of the camera,” she said.

“Also, to look at the question of how women directors are currently faring as well. So we’ve chosen that as our focal point of our discussion in a year where we have a huge array of films on offer as ever.”

With more than 235 films being shown at this year’s event, and 45 films directed by female filmmakers, it can be hard to narrow down which ones to watch.

Here are Clare’s top film recommendations for this year.

Suffragette

Suffragette, starring Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, will kick off the opening night of the 2015 LFF with a star-studded premiere.

“Suffragette is 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,” Clare said.

The film, which is directed by Sarah Gavron and written by The Iron Lady’s Abi Morgan, opens in cinemas on October 12.

Carol

Directed by Todd Haynes, Carol – starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as two women who fall in love in 1950s New York – will have its UK premiere on October 14.

Clare said: “Carol is a deeply romantic, emotionally honest love story and is also cinema at its most intoxicating and immaculate. It’s Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara falling in love.”

The film will open in cinemas on November 27.

Trumbo

Jay Roach’s biopic about blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is played out on the big screen here, with Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston as the titular character.

He is supported by Dame Helen Mirren as US gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and Diane Lane as Trumbo’s wife Cleo Fincher.

“Diane Lane and Helen Mirren – one holding, the other attacking the fort – in our Accenture gala Trumbo. Diane plays the character who really holds the fort while Trumbo’s in the firing line and Helen plays a character who’s very much attacking Trumbo,” Clare said.

The film opens in cinemas on January 22, 2016.

Brooklyn

Saoirse Ronan takes the lead in John Crowley’s period drama, which has been written by Nick Hornby. The Irish star plays young Irish immigrant Eilis Lacey, who swaps her homegrown comforts for the intoxicating excitement of 1950s Brooklyn.

Clare said: “Saiorse Ronan gives such an extraordinary performance in the heart-wrenching film Brooklyn, which is based on the Colm Toibin novel.”

Brooklyn, which also stars Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters, opens nationwide on November 6.

The Lady In The Van

Dame Maggie Smith portrays an eccentric homeless woman who parked her battered Bedford van in playwright Alan Bennett’s driveway – and then remained there for 15 years in the big-screen adaptation of his play.

Dame Maggie Smith in The Lady In The Van
Dame Maggie Smith in The Lady In The Van (Sony Pictures)

Clare explained: “Maggie Smith is the irascible Miss Shepherd in The Lady In The Van, this woman of an indeterminate age who parks her van in Alan Bennett’s driveway and stays there for 15 years.”

The film, which also stars Alex Jennings and appearances by Dominic Cooper, James Corden and Jim Broadbent, opens in cinemas on November 13.

Steve Jobs

Michael Fassbender may play the late Apple co-founder, with Seth Rogen as his partner Steve Wozniak, in Danny Boyle’s biopic, but it is Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, a member of the original Mac team and the NeXT team, who steals the spotlight.

Clare said: “Kate Winslet plays Joanna Hoffman in the Steve Jobs biopic, which is the closing film for the festival. This is a really stunning performance – she is the person who can hold her own against that iconoclastic leader (Jobs).”

Steve Jobs, which closes the festival on October 28, will open nationwide on November 13.

He Named Me Malala

There is no one quite as extraordinary as Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel-prize laureate.

Davis Guggenheim’s documentary about the 18-year-old, who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen after speaking for the girls’ education in her region of Swat Valley in Pakistan.

The film opens nationwide on November 6.

Room

“Lenny Abrahamson’s amazing Room is based on the story by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote the script,” Clare explained.

“It’s an extraordinary performance by Brie Larson as a woman who’s been living in captivity and bringing up her child, who was birthed by her kidnapper,” Clare explained.

The big-screen adaptation, starring Jacob Tremblay as the young child Jack, opens in cinemas nationwide on January 29, 2016.

Make More Noise! Suffragettes In Silent Film

Suffragettes in Make More Noise! Suffragettes In Film
Suffragettes in Make More Noise! Suffragettes In Film (BFI)

This compilation of 21 short films, edited by Douglas Weir, combines newsreels with early comedies that show Suffragettes on screen.

The movie will open in cinemas on October 23.

Ayanda

Set in South Africa, Sara Belcher’s film features a strong female lead character in 21-year-old Afro-hipster and artist Ayanda. The movie also presents colourful portraits of the multi-national residents living in Johannesburg’s Yeoville suburb.

Tangerine

Sean Baker’s film, which opens nationwide on November 13, stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor as transsexual prostitutes on Santa Monica Boulevard. This film about female friendship and solidarity is more tender and more unexpected than you may imagine.

Public booking opens at 10am on September 17. To book tickets for the London Film Festival, call 020 7928 3232 or visit www.bfi.org.uk/lff.

The London Film Festival, now in its 59th year, runs from October 7 to 18.