By Neil Smith BBC News Online

Leigh's film Vera Drake won best film and actress prizes at Venice

Speaking at the festival's launch on Wednesday, the British film-maker said it was "an unusual and inspired choice" and an "extraordinary privilege".

The film - which tells of a backstreet abortionist in 1950s London - won the Golden Lion at Venice on Saturday.

I Heart Huckabees, starring Jude Law, is the closing night film.

Artistic director Sandra Hebron said it was "a very easy decision" to have Vera Drake open the festival on 20 October.

"It's one of the finest films I've seen all year," she told BBC News Online.

"It's an extraordinarily accomplished film, and the fact that it's been recognised in Venice confirms what we always knew about it."

'Overwhelmed'

Leigh said the film was "highly entertaining, stimulating and warm" but had "an undercurrent of serious issues".

House of Flying Daggers is the new epic from Hero's Zhang Yimou

He said the entire cast were "overwhelmed" to be asked to launch the event, especially as "it usually opens with a Hollywood picture".

As a long-time visitor of the festival, Leigh said he would be "clearing his diary" to see as many of the programme's 180 features as possible.

"It's the only opportunity people in London get to sit down and watch a really diverse selection of films from all around the world," he said.

They include Chinese martial arts epic House of Flying Daggers, The Incredibles - the latest animated feature from Toy Story producers Pixar - and Tarnation, a family drama based on real-life home videos that became a major talking point at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

New films from Woody Allen, Jonathan Demme and Trainspotting director Danny Boyle will be featured alongside restored versions of Frank Capra's Mr Smith Goes To Washington and On The Waterfront starring the late Marlon Brando.

Hollywood stars

Also in the line-up is Wong Kar-Wai's 2046, which Hebron is confident she will be able to screen despite its last-minute withdrawal from last month's Edinburgh Film Festival.

Pixar's new film The Incredibles tells of a family of superheroes

The Chinese director has been re-editing his latest movie, a futuristic love story set in Hong Kong and Singapore, ever since it had its premiere in an unfinished form at Cannes.

"There's always a slight element of doubt, but I think he is getting close to signing off on it," Hebron said.

Reese Witherspoon and Kevin Bacon are among the Hollywood stars who will attend this year's event to discuss their careers and unveil their latest films.

The former plays Becky Sharp in Mira Nair's 'Bollywood' version of Vanity Fair, while the latter plays a reformed paedophile in drama The Woodsman.