BFI London Film Festival: seven films you won't want to miss

The BFI London Film festival has kicked off with an exciting line-up of new movies from around the world, including films by some intriguing local talent.

The 61st BFI London Film festival runs until 15 October, with a programme of 243 films from 67 different countries. It will open with a new film from Andy Serkis, Breathe, and close with the latest crime caper from Martin McDonagh.

Here are our top picks for the festival's unmissable films.

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Breathe

Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes actor Andy Serkis makes his directorial debut with Breathe, which will open the festival.

Serkis's company Imaginarium Productions made the movie, which is based on the real story of Imaginarium co-founder Jonathan Cavendish's parents. It follows Robin Cavendish, Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge) and his wife Diana, Claire Foy (The Crown) as they attempt to lead a normal life after Robin is paralysed by polio.

Serkis told Variety the film was "a deeply personal story to all of us at The Imaginarium, and to have the European premiere of my directorial debut in London, my hometown, is beyond my wildest dreams."

Battle of the Sexes

Emma Stone and Steve Carell star in this tennis drama based on the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King (Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Carell). The match saw a 55-year-old Riggs, the former male world number one, take on 29-year-old King, the top female player of the time with much stereotyped hype.

The competition was full of showbiz glitz, including a rickshaw pulled by models and a bevy of topless men, as the pair competed for $100,000 (£77,300) of prize money. The movie promises to be a joy, with the trailer teasing a sparky performance from Stone and Carell on fine form as a cheesy chauvinist.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

John Cameron Mitchell directs this film adaptation of a Neil Gaiman short story about a love-starved teenager's night of other-worldly experiences in the early days of the London punk scene. The movie stars Alex Sharp, Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson and Matt Lucas. It has been described by the Hollywood Reporter as "an anarchic collision between Derek Jarman's Jubilee and a gender-flipped Earth Girls Are Easy" with "a hallucinogenic dash of Romeo and Juliet". You can watch the trailer here.

Lean on Pete

Based on a novel by Willy Vlautin, the Tom Waits of American literature, Lean on Pete, tells the poetic story of lost souls, life's losers and redemption. Brit Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) directs his first American-set movie, starring Charlie Plummer as a teenage boy who befriends a failed racehorse bound for the slaughter yard, with Steve Buscemi as the hard-bitten trainer Del. The Guardian calls it "heartfelt and affecting" like a good country ballad.

The Final Year

HBO's fly-on-the wall documentary about the last 12 months of the Obama administration is bound to provoke political soul searching. Director Greg Barker benefits from rare access to members of Obama's team and provides unique insights into the White House machinations during this tumultuous period in the lead-up to the 2006 election.

Journeyman

Paddy Considine wrote, directed and starred in this boxing tale alongside Jodie Whittaker. He plays Matty Burton, a boxing champion approaching the end of his career, who suffers a serious head injury during his last fight. After waking up from a coma, with memory loss and personality changes, Matty tries to pull his life together. Considine's critically acclaimed directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, won numerous awards, but wasn't for the faint-hearted. Fans who enjoyed it can head back into the ring for more hard-hitting drama.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Seven Psychopaths' writer-director Martin McDonagh's crime caper closes the London festival. Frances McDormand, of Coen Brothers' fame, stars as a mother who takes on the police (Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell) in her Missouri town when her daughter is murdered and the authorities fail to find the culprit. Given McDonagh's form and a glimpse of the trailer, viewers can look forward to dark, comic delight.

Other films to look out for include Alexander Payne's Downsizing, the romantic comedy The Lovers and Loveless, the latest film from Andrey Zvyagintsev whose Leviathan won Best Film at LFF in 2014.