The date: Wednesday, October 7. The place: Odeon Leicester Square. The event: the 59th BFI London Film Festival. The film: Suffragette, the only film in the history of cinema to shoot at The Palace Of Westminster, better known as The Houses Of Parliament. But now, the very first trailer for the eagerly-anticipated period piece.
In a coup for the biggest film festival for the UK, the starry likes of Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter, Carey Mulligan, Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson will be on the red carpet for the film's European premiere, kicking off the LFF's 11-day cavalcade of cinematic delights.
For those not already in the know - or those who hadn't twigged from the title and/or the trailer - Suffragette tells the tale of the footsoldiers who headlined the British suffragette movement, fighting tirelessly for women's right to vote in the early 20th century. Streep herself plays Emmeline Pankhurst, while Bonham Carter plays Edith New.
"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," said festival director Clare Stewart.
Abi Morgan, who wrote** The Iron Lady** to Oscar-winning effect for Streep, as well as** Brick Lane** for Suffragette's director Sarah Gavron, is the screenwriter behind this one, with Alexandre Desplat composing. This LFF premiere on October 7 comes just two weeks before the film's nationwide release, which is October 23.