Benedict Cumberbatch 'proud' to launch London Film Festival

Benedict Cumberbatch says he is "proud" that his film about computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing is opening this year's BFI London Film Festival, the BBC reports.

The Sherlock star and Keira Knightley will attend at the European premiere of wartime drama The Imitation Game in Leicester Square on Wednesday night.

Cumberbatch's performance as Turing is already being tipped as an Oscar contender.

Knightley plays his close friend and fellow-code breaker Joan Clarke.

"I'm a Londoner and... to be opening the festival with this film, I couldn't be more proud," Cumberbatch said.

Some 248 feature films will be presented over the 12-day festival, which runs from 8-19 October.

Among the stars expected on the red carpet are Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Timothy Spall, Andrea Riseborough, Sophie Okonedo, Noomi Rapace, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Carell, Sienna Miller, Reese Witherspoon, Dominic West and Emily Watson.

The Imitation Game is set at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, where Turing and his team attempted to decipher German messages to help end World War Two.

Turing killed himself in 1954, two years after being prosecuted for gross indecency after he fell foul of anti-gay laws at the time.

Turing received a posthumous royal pardon in December 2013, with Justice Minister Chris Grayling saying he undoubtedly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of lives.

Cumberbatch hopes the film will help bring Turing "the recognition he deserved as a scientist, as the father of the modern computer age and a war hero".

He said he understood why some people drew comparisons with his TV role as problem-solving genius Sherlock Holmes.

"I didn't read the script and go this is Sherlock in tweed," he added. "I liked how uncompromising he was and I suppose that's a strong trait in strong characters."

The film's Norwegian director, Morten Tyldum, described Turing as "an unsung hero who achieved so much... he was ahead of his time and outside of his time and was carrying all these secrets".

Another World War Two drama, Fury - starring Brad Pitt - will close the London Film Festival on 19 October.

Pitt will attend the premiere with director David Ayer, who said it was "a true pleasure to be returning to England, where we shot the film". Many of the action scenes were filmed in Oxfordshire.

Set in 1945, Fury tells of an army sergeant in command of a tank crew for a mission behind enemy lines.

Other gala screenings at the festival include wrestling drama Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carell; and Wild, with Reese Witherspoon as a young woman on a gruelling 1,100 mile hike. The film's screenplay is written by Nick Hornby.