As autumn descends and the cold weather sets in, we are so ready to get back in the cinema. And from 5 - 16 October the London Film Festival returns for it’s 66th year with an incredible programme filled with headline galas, special presentations and long-awaited feature films to see you through the first weeks of wintery weather.
Unfortunately, it’s still true that the film industry is dominated by men. In 2021, The Celluloid Ceiling Report showed that just 12% of directors working on the 100 top-grossing films were women. Meanwhile, women represented just 17% of directors—fewer than the year before.
But the London Film Festival has routinely led the charge for change with a consistently diverse and vibrant programme year on year. And the 2022 schedule is no different, with 41% of the films on show presented from female and non-binary directors, creators, and co-directors.
And if you’re overwhelmed by the London Film Festival’s expansive programme, don’t worry. Just keep scrolling to see our guide of female driven films you really need at the LFF this year…
Female-led films you need to see at the 66th London Film Festival
Aftersun
Directed by Charlotte Wells, Aftersun follows Calum (Paul Mescal) and his daughter (Frankie Corio) on their holiday in Turkey in the late 90s. With an honest depiction of mental illness and a father-daughter relationship dynamic, this was one of the most talked about films at Cannes Film Festival.
Call Jane
Directed by Phyllis Nagy (screenwriter of Carol), Call Jane takes place in 1968—five years before the landmark ruling (recently overturned) Roe v Wade. In an America where abortion is yet to become a constitutional right, housewife Joy (Elizabeth Banks) is denied a termination for a life-threatening pregnancy and seeks help from an underground network called ‘Jane’.
Till
Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, Till follows Mamie Tills fight for justice after the lynching of her son Emmett in 1955. The 14-year-old was kidnapped and killed in Mississippi after being wrongfully accused of harassing a white woman, who was willing to lie to police to protect the murderers. Mamie became a reluctant activist, with her son’s murder becoming a landmark catalyst for the Civil Rights movement.
Causeway
Directed by Lila Neugebauer, Causeway stars Jennifer Lawrence as a US servicewoman called Lynsey who sustained a brain injury while serving in Afghanistan. After Lynsey’s condition begins to improve, she returns home to New Orleans where she faces the mother she never got along with and build a companionship with a haunted mechanic named James.
The Swimmers
Directed by Sally El Hosaini, The Swimmers is set in under-siege Damascus in 2015 where sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini have fled for Europe via a dangerous refugee boat. Both Yusra and Sarah are talented swimmers, expected to compete at international level for their country, but when their homeland is destroyed their talents are utilised for a very different purpose.
The Eternal Daughter
Directed by Joanna Hogg, The Eternal Daughter was shot in secret during lockdown and nearly all of the details about the project have been kept from the press and public. Starring Tilda Swinton, the plot follows a middle-aged filmmaker and her mother who go on holiday to an old country hotel. The rest is a mystery.
Blue Jean
Directed by Georgia Oakley, Blue Jean follows a closeted PE teacher called Jane as she navigates her double life in Thatcherite Britain. But Jean’s world is almost torn apart when a new student arrives with the capacity to destroy her protective façade.
She Said
Directed by Maria Schrader, She Said is a dramatisation of the New York Times investigation, spearheaded by reporters Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) that that uncovered Havey Weinstein’s serial abuse of women in Hollywood. Framed as a thriller, the pacy narrative explores ethical journalism and the scandal that shook the showbiz world.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Directed by Laure de Clermont- Tonnerre, Lady Chatterley’s lover is an adaptation of DH Lawrence’s sexy novel starring Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell. Set in 1928, the film follows Connie Reid as her affections for her husband Clifford wane and she embraces her yearning from her gamekeeper Oliver Mellors. Lady Chatterley has long been unfairly lambasted for female promiscuity but Clermont- Tonnerre doesn’t shy away the passion of the source text.
The Wonder
Based on the gothic book by Emma Donoghue and starring Florence Pugh, The Wonder follows an 11-year-old girl Irish girl called Anna who one day stops eating and miraculously stays alive. An English nurse called Lib Wright is sent to observe Anna and decide whether her survival is a miracle or a blasphemous lie with help from nun from the neighbouring town.
Matilda
Emma Thompson leads the cast in the big screen adaptation of the Olivier-winning musical based on Roald Dahl’s book: Matilda. A childhood favourite, Matilda follows a brave little girl as she finds company in library books and teaches her neglectful parents and angry headmistress a few lessons at home and school.
Empire Of Light
In Empire Of Light, Olivia Coleman’s character Hilary appears to have a pretty idyllic life: she manages a seafront cinema with a dance hall overlooking the sea. The old building is crumbling, but with the help of her colleagues they get it ready for the regional premiere of Chariots Of Fire—even if they are regularly tormented by skinheads.
Emily the Criminal
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Emily The Criminal follows an art-school dropout who gets involved in a credit-card scam that drags her into the felonious underworld of Los Angeles. In $70k of debt from her studies, Emily is recruited into a mysterious company that launders stolen credit cards and struggles to survive the rollercoaster of criminal life.
The English
Starring Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and Rafe Spall, The English is one of London Film Festivals TV selections that follows an English woman, Cornelia Locke, as she arrives in the wild west of the US with only a bag of money and a desire for revenge.
Aisha
Starring Letitia Wright, Aisha follows a young Nigerian woman as she seeks asylum in Ireland. After her brother and father were killed and she fled her homeland, she’s left to fight for stability through relentless administrative processes in Ireland and finds an unexpected friend in an employee at her accommodation centre called Conor.
You can see the full London Film Festival programme here