The opening of the Film Festival

The festival will include exclusive showings of 184 feature films and 133 shorts as well as a host of screen talks, masterclasses and live events. 128 films will have their UK premieres at the festival.

Renowned UK filmmakers including Richard Attenborough will showcase their latest work, and there is also space for some UK newcomers to feature film.

However, the London Film Festival is definitely not just about celebrating UK cinema. Visitors will enjoy offerings from 43 different countries around the world.

Golden Lion winner Ang Lee's new film 'Lust Caution' will feature as well as Jia Zhangke's 'Wu Yong'. There is a special event celebrating the rise of Romanian cinema, and a strand of 14 films dedicated to France, called 'The French Revolutions'.

The festival will focus on documentaries as well as features, with a wealth of documentaries from around the world.

Directors and actors will take to the stage to discuss their careers and work. These will include David Lynch, Robert Rodriguez, Paul Greengrass, Laura Linney and Steve Buscemi.

Classic films including A Clockwork Orange will be shown as part of a series looking at restorations of archive films. And recent popular releases will be given another outing too. For example the IMAX cinema will show the Bourne trilogy back to back in a special event.

Artistic Director Sandra Hebron said "We look forward to welcoming filmmakers, audiences and press and industry delegates alike to our two week celebration of the best, most creative and original films of the year."